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CHRISTIANITY 



AS EXEMPLIFIED 



IN THE 



CONDUCT OF ITS SINCERE PROFESSORS, 



BY REV. W. SECKER. 



CINCINITATI-. 

PUBLISHED BY APPLEGATE & CO. 

1854. 



^7 



Iq Exchange 
Drew Vheolog. Sem, 
22 Je19OT 



T, YTRIGHTSON, rRINTER, CINCINNATI. 



PREFACE. 



Christian Reader: 

To serve man's necessity is charitable, to serve 
his conveniency is warrantable, to serve his ini- 
quity is blamable, but to serve his purity is hon- 
orable. 

The design of this piece is not the ostentation 
of the author, but the edification of the reader. In 
this subject you have a breviary of religion ; the 
works enjoined in it are weighty, and the blessings 
annexed to it are many. Christianity is here 
dressed in the white linen of purity. As grace 
begins in God's love to us, so it ends in our love to 
him. It both makes our comforts greater and our 
crowns brighter. Those children who are found 
moving in the orbits of obedience shall enjoy the 
clearest sunshine of their Father's countenance. 

Beloved, be sure to raise your superstructure 
upon an immovable foundation, and enter into 
such a business as hath an immediate tendency to 



blessedness. It is an unparalleled mercy to be pre- 
served from corruption in the midst of general 
infection. It is far better to be innocent than 
penitent; to prevent the malady than invent the 
remedy. 

Remember, reader, that we can call no time our 
own but the present. How carefully should we 
shoot who have but one arrow to direct at the 
mark ! The more you enjoy the smiles of God, 
the more you will shine in the eyes of those saints 
who judge of the trees of righteousness by the 
fruits of righteousness. The enjoyment of the 
world is neither an evidence of the divine favor nor 
anger. Judge not yourself, therefore, by the gold 
in your bags, but by the grace of God in your 
heart ; not by your wealth, but by your works. If 
religion be your vineyard to labor in, eternity shall 
be your bed to rest upon. Every grace that is 
here exercised shall there be glorified. 

It is an unseemly thing to put on the fair suit of 
profession to do the foul work of corruption. The 
time is approaching when God will burn up those 
vines which bear only sour grapes. The gospel 
not only requires diligence, but it also requires 
excellence, that by the singularity of your actions 
you may prove the sincerity of your disposition. 

Christian, the race is short in which you run, 
but the prize is great for which you run. I wish 
this gale of divinity may speed your vessel to the 



haven of felicity ; and when God gives in more to 
me I shall give out more to you. In the mean time 
I shall deem it my highest honor to be instrumen- 
tal to others' conversion, and in this relation I beg 
to subscribe myself, 

Christian reader, 

Yours in the Lord, 

William Secker. 
1* 



CONTENTS. 



TEXT OPENED — DOCTRINE RAISED: 

THAT SINGULAR CHRISTIANS WILL PERFORM SINGULAR 
ACTIONS. 



PART I. 



WHY A CHRISTIAN SHOULD DO MORE THAN OTHERS. 

Page 
1 Because, more is done for him than for others, .... 21 

2. Because, he is more nearly related to God than others, 24 

3. Because, he professes more than others, 26 

4. Because, he is inwardly conformed to the Redeemer 

more than others, 29 

5. Because, he is looked upon more than others, .... 31 

6. Because, if he does no more than others, it will appear 

that he is no more than others, 33 

7. Because, he is appointed to be a judge of others, ... 36 

8. Because, he expects more than others, 38 



8 CONTENTS. 

PART II. 

WHAT THE CHRISTIAN DOES MORE THAN OTHERS. 

i 

Page 

1. He does much good, and makes but little noise, • • • 41 

2. He brings up the bottom of his life to the top of his 

light, 47 

3. He prefers the duty he owes to God to the danger he 

fears from man, 51 

4. He seeks the public good of others, above the private 

good of himself, 57 

5. He has the most beautiful conversation among the 

blackest persons, 65 

6. He chooses the worst sorrows, rather than commit the 

least sin, 70 

7. He becomes a father to all in charity, and a servant 

to all in humility, 78 

8. He mourns most before God for those lusts which 

appear least before men, 86 

9. He keeps his heart lowest when God raises his estate 

highest, 93 

10. He seeks to be better inwardly in his substance than 

outwardly in appearance, 98 

11. He is grieved more at the distress of the church than 

affected at his own happiness, 102 

12. He renders the greatest good for the greatest evil, . . 106 

13. He takes those reproofs best which he needs most, . • 111 

14. He takes up duty in point of performance, and lays it 

down in point of dependence, 116 

15. He takes up his contentment in God's appointment, . . 121 

16. He is more in love with the employment of h61iness 

than with the enjoyment of happiness, 125 

17. He is more employed in searching his own heart than 

in censuring other men's states, 131 



CONTENTS. 9 

Paga 

18. He sets out for God at this beginning, and holds out 

with him to the end, 135 

19. He takes all the shame of his sins to himself, and gives 

all the glory of his services to Christ, 142 

20. He values an heavenly reversion above an earthly pos- 

session, 147 



APPLICATION. 

PART I. 

FOR THE ERECTION OF SINGULAR PRINCIPLES. 

1. The believer will walk by this principle, that whatever 

is transacted by men on earth is eyed by the Lord 
in heaven, 153 

2. That after his present receivings, he will be brought to 

his future reckonings, 157 

3. That God bears a greater respect to his heart than to his 

works, • 165 

4. That there is more final bitterness in reflecting on sin 

than there can be present sweetness in the commis- 
sion of sin, . 170 

& That there is the greatest vanity in all created excel- 
lency, 174 

6. That duties can never have too much attention paid to 

them, or too little confidence placed in them, .... 182 

7. That those precious promises which are given to insure 

his happiness do not supersede those directions 
which are laid down for him to seek after happiness, 188 

8. That it is dangerous to dress himself for another world 

at the looking-glass of this world, 192 



ll > CONTENTS. 

Pag- 

9. That where sin proves hateful it shall not prove hurt- 

ful, 197 

10. That inward purity is the ready road to outward plenty, 202 

11. That all the time which God allows him is but enough 

for the work which he allots him, 207 

12. That there can never be too great an estrangement 

from defilement, • • 212 

13. That whatever is temporally enjoyed should be spiritu- 

ally improved, . • 215 

14. That he should speak well of God, whatever evil he 

receives from God, 221 

15. That the longer God forbears with the unrelenting sin- 

ner in life, the sorer he strikes him in the judgment 
day, 224 

16. That there is no judging of the inward condition of 

men by the outward dispensations of God, • • • • 228 

17. That it is safest to cleave to that good which is the 

choicest, 233 

18. That no present worldly business should interrupt his 

pursuit of future blessedness, 236 

19. That gospel integrity towards God is the best security 

against wicked men, 238 

20. That the richness of the crown that shall be received 

shall more than compensate for the bitterness of the 
cross which may here be endured, • • • 241 



PART II. 

DIRECTIONS TO THOSE WHO WISH TO DO MORE 
THAN OTHERS. 

1 Would they do more than others? then they must deny 
themselves more than others, ........... 246 



CONTENTS. 11 

Page 

2. Would they deny themselves more than others ? then 

they should pray more than others, 347 

3. Would they pray more than others? then they should 

resolve more than others, — 

4. "Would they resolve more than others ? then they should 

love more than others, 251 

5. Would they love more than others ? then they should 

believe more than others, 254 

6. "Would they believe more than others ? then they should 

know more than others, 257 

7. "Would they know more than others ? then God must 

reveal himself more to them than he does to others, 259 



THE 

NONSUCH PEOFESSOE 

IN HIS MERIDIAN SPLENDOR; 

OR, 

THE SINGULAR ACTIONS OF SANCTIFIED 
CHRISTIANS. 



MATTHEW V. 47.— WHAT DO YE MORE THAN OTHERS? 

In a mountain the law was propounded to 
Moses, in a mountain the law was expounded by 
Jesus ; the former to a man of God, the latter by 
the Son of God ; the one to a prophet of the Lord, 
the other by the Lord of the prophets. 

As the works of Christ were miraculous, so the 
words of Christ were mysterious ; they were such 
a depth which none could sound, but those whom 
God had furnished with the plummet of an en- 
lightened understanding. Before any one can 
peruse the Scriptures to profit, the Lamb of God 
must open the seven seals. 

In this chapter, the soul-justifying Saviour con- 
demns the self-justifying scribes and Pharisees. 
Never did men make more boast in the law, but 
never had men less cause. They knew but little as 
to the letter, and less of its spirit. They were better 
2 



14 

acquainted with the customs of nature, than the 
canons of Scripture. Alas, how shall the blind 
see, when the seers are blind ! They who should 
have put the eyes of others in, had put their own 
out. 

The righteous laws of God cannot connive at 
the unrighteous lives of men; they not only require 
truth without, but within also. The rays of this 
sun enter the most secret chambers of the heart ; 
therefore he that lusteth after and he that lieth 
with a woman are both adulterers. He is a mur- 
derer whose heart is full of hatred, though his 
hands be free from violence. Thus the lusts of 
men may be predominant, when the lives of men 
are not inordinate ; as guests may be in the house, 
when they look not out of the windows. He who 
begins religion where it should end, will end reli- 
gion where it should be begun. 

But as the suburbs direct to the city, and the 
portal leads to the palace, so the context will guide 
us to the text. 

"If ye love them that love you, what reward 
have you? do not the publicans the same?" 

As an echo returns the voice it receives, so many 
will show kindness where kindness is shown; but 
shall publicans be as godly as the Lord's disciples? 
Shall the sons of men equalize the sons of God ? 
Shall the law of nature swell to so high a tide as 
the law of grace? This were for the dribbling 
rivulet to vie with the drowning ocean; this were 
for royalty to degenerate into beggary ; and for the 
meridian sun to yield no more light than midnight 
shades. 



15 

"If you salute your brethren only, what do ye 
more than others?" 

I shall not curiously dissect these words, lest 
I should present to your view a frightful skeleton ; 
nor shall I lavishly paint these windows, lest my 
deep colors should shut out the light. The native 
comeliness of Scripture scorns the unnatural color 
of a bewitching Jezebel. One rough diamond is of 
more value than many smooth counterfeits. 

My subject treats not of oratory, but divinity ; 
and my design in it is rather to express affections 
than to affect expressions. Though the sweetness 
of the sauce may yield pleasure to the palate, yet 
it is only the soundness of the meat that can 
administer nourishment to the blood. 

This text is like a precious jewel, small in quan- 
tity but great in quality. The words contain two 
parts. 

I. An Action propounded. 

II. A Question proposed. 

1. An action propounded, touching that which 
is lawful. If ye salute your brethren only. 
'Aart&arjaOe signifies to salute, but with kisses and 
affection ; therefore, what one verse calls saluting, 
the other calls loving; because salutation is only a 
pledge of affection, it is the overflowing of the 
heart at the lips. There is a kiss of subjection 
and obedience, that is the subject's kiss; there is a 
kiss of wantonness and temptation, that is the 
harlot's kiss; there is a kiss of dissimulation, that 
is the traitor's kiss ; there is also a kiss of tender- 
ness and affection, and that is the brother's kiss. 

Now this scripture enjoins you not only to salute 



16 

your friends, but your enemies also. Party esteem 
is but withered fruit, and falls rather from Sodom's 
than Zion's trees. There is, therefore, a kiss of 
pity and forgiveness, and that is the Christian's 
kiss ; if this be wanting the others are vain. For, 
if ye salute your brethren only, then observe what 
follows ; which is, 

2. A question proposed; "What do ye more 
than others?" Tl negiaaov noieXxB signifies what 
abundant or singular thing do ye? The words 
thus understood contain this golden head of in- 
struction, 

Doctrine, That singular Christians will perforin 
singular actions. 

This is the well from which I shall draw the 
water, and the foundation upon which I shall raise 
the superstructure. You cannot rationally im- 
agine that you will be supplied with bitter streams 
from so sweet a spring, or that I should make a 
bowing wall or tottering fence with such choice 
materials. Those who collect pearls from this 
spot will leave as many behind them as they carry 
with them. 

As the disciples of Christ are more than others, 
so the disciples of Christ do more than others. A 
hypocrite may move beyond a Sodomite; but a 
Christian moves beyond them both. Though the 
naturally dead can do nothing, yet the spiritually 
dead may do something. Though they can do 
nothing to merit the grace of life, yet they may do 
something as to using the means of life. 

Cicero complains of Homer, " that he taught the 
gods to live like men;" but grace teaches men to 



17 

live like gods. It is lamentable that we should 
live so long in the world and do so little for God; 
or that we should live so short a time in the world 
and do so much for Satan. Other creatures are 
not more below a sinner than a saint is above a 
sinner. Man is the excellency of the creature, the 
saint is the excellency of man ; grace is the excel- 
lency of the saint, and glory is the excellency of 
grace. 

Believers are among others, as Saul was among 
the Israelites, the tallest by the head and shoulders. 
Their birth is truly low who are not born from 
above. What are such earthly shrubs, compared 
with heavenly cedars; or such thorns of the 
world's brake, to the willows of God's brook? 
Those trees which have their top branches of hope 
in heaven will have their lower boughs of activity 
on earth. Those who look for a heaven made 
ready will live as though they were already in 
heaven. 

Grace not only makes a man more a man, but it 
also makes him more than a man. The primitive 
Christians were the best of men. None were more 
lowly in their dispositions or more lovely in their 
conversation. Noah was a just man and perfect 
in his generation. He was not a sinner among 
saints, but he was a saint among sinners. Who 
would have looked for so fair a bird in so foul a 
nest? Though he once acted as the sons of men 
do, yet he was numbered with the sons of God. A 
field of wheat may be good, and yet have a weed 
in it. A saint is not free from sin, — that is his bur- 
den ; a saint is not free to sin, — that is his blessing. 
2* 



18 

Sin is in him, — that is his lamentation ; his soul is 
not in sin, — that is his consolation. 

Mark how an immaculate Saviour glories in one 
of these singular saints : " And the Lord said unto 
Satan, "Hast thou considered my servant Job?" 
Why, what is there in him so considerable? " There 
is none like him in all the earth." Though there 
were none in heaven so bad as Job, yet there were 
none on earth so good as Job. He was a man so 
like unto God that there was no man like him. 

A gracious person once hearing how far a hypo- 
crite might go, said, "-Let hypocrites proceed as 
far as they can in that which is laudable, and 
when they can advance no further I will go beyond 
them." A true Christian not only does more than 
others will do, but he also does more than others 
can do. Whatsoever is not above the top of nature 
is below the bottom of grace. There are some 
who pretend to believe, but work not; there are 
others who work, but believe not ; but a saint does 
both — he so obeys the law as if there were no 
gospel to be believed, and so believes the gospel as 
though there were no law to be obeyed. Religion 
consists not singly in believing, or doing, but in 
both. 

There are four sorts of things in the world : 

1. There are some things which are neither 
good nor pleasant ; as envy and detraction. The 
eclipsing of another's sun will not make thine own 
shine with brighter beams. O pare off those 
envious nails, which are ever disfiguring that face 
which is fairer than thine own. Why do you 
wound yourself with that plaster which is laid 



19 

upon your brother's sore, or weep at every shower 
which falls beside your own inclosure? Who 
would envy an ox that pasture which only fits it 
for the slaughter, or the malefactor that carriage 
which only conveys him to the place of execution? 
You have no less because others have much, nor 
have they much because you have little. Another's 
wealth is no more the cause of your want, than 
Leah's fruitfulness was the cause of Rachel's bar- 
renness. O never pine at your neighbor's prosper- 
ity, and you shall never pine away through your 
own scarcity. He enjoys much who is thankful 
for a little. A grateful mind is a great mind. 

2. There are some things which are pleasant but 
not good, as youthful lasts and vjorldly delights. 
These bees carry honey in their mouths, but they 
have a sting in their tails. When this Jael brings 
forth her milk and her butter, then beware of the 
nail and the hammer. Death is in the pot while 
you are tasting the soup. The world always pre- 
sents a deadly potion in the gilded cup of worldly 
pleasure. If the cup be sinful, do not taste it; if it 
be lawful, carouse not over it. Reason forbids you 
either to taste known poison or to be intoxicated 
with pleasant wine. The fish is caught upon the 
hook by leaping at the bait. Sin is like a river, 
which begins in a quiet spring, but ends in a 
tumultuous sea. 

3. There are some things good but not pleasant, 
as sorrow and afflictiori. Sin is pleasant but 
unprofitable, and sorrow is profitable but unpleas- 
ant. By affliction the Lord separates the sin that 
he hates from the soul that he loves. He does not 



20 

always ordain it to take your spirit out of your 
flesh, but your flesh out of your spirit. It is not 
sent to take down the tabernacle of nature, but 
to rear up the temple of grace within you. As 
waters are purest when they are in motion, so 
saints are generally holiest when in affliction. A 
foul fescue^ frequently points to a fair lesson. 
Some Christians resemble those children who will 
learn their books no longer than while the rod is 
on their backs. It is well known that by the 
greatest affliction the Lord has sealed the sweetest 
instruction. Many are not bettered by the judg- 
ments they see, when they have by the judgments 
they have felt. The purest gold is the most 
pliable. That is the best blade which bends well 
without retaining its crooked figure. 

4. There are some things both good and pleas- 
ant, and those are gracious operations on the soul. 
A believer's bed of graces is more fragrant than the 
most precious bed of spices. He who freely gives 
his image to us, must of necessity love his image 
in us. How illustrious do the heavens appear 
while the sun is radiating them with his beams ! 
Now, my brethren, " Whatsoever things are true, 
— honest, — just, — lovely, — and of good report, if 
there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think 
on these things." 

But, as you cannot see so well by a candle 
under a bushel as upon a table, I shall therefore 
hold up the subject to your view in the following 
light:- 

* A small wire by which those who teach to read point out the 
letters. 



21 

Firstly, I shall touch upon the explanation of 
that which is doctrinal ; 

Secondly, Upon the application of that which is 
practical. 

The former is like cutting the garment out, the 
latter is like putting the garment on. 

I am first to treat of that which is doctrinal. 
And here I shall show, first, why a believer does 
more than others; and, secondly, what he does 
more than others. 

I begin with the first. Why do Christians do 
more than others ? 

1. Because more is done for them than is done 
for others. 

There is that done for them which none but He 
who made them could do. They are loved, they 
are atoned for, they are prayed for, and they are 
provided for, more than others. Now where there 
is a superaddition of privilege, there should be a 
superaddition of practice. We naturally expect 
more splendor from the beaming of the sun than 
from the burning of a candle; and we look for 
more moisture from the dissolving of a cloud than 
from the dropping of a bucket. The same heat 
that melts the wax will harden the clay. The juice 
which distils into a rose is returned in a sweet 
perfume, but that which drops upon a nettle is 
returned in an ill savor. If the mercies of God be 
not load-stones to draw us to heaven, they will be 
mill-stones to draw or sink us in perdition. 

" To whom much is given, of them much shall 
be required." The blessings we enjoy are not the 
fruit of our merit, but the fruit of God's mercy. 



22 

By how much the more grace we have received, 
by so much the more glory we are obliged to return 
to the giver. He does not exact much where little 
is bestowed, nor accept little where much is re- 
ceived. A drop of praise is an unsuitable acknowl- 
edgment for an ocean of mercy. " Hear this word 
that the Lord hath spoken against you, O children 
of Israel* You only have I known of all the 
families of the earth." But was their return 
according to the benefit? No, surely; otherwise 
• he would not have added, ■-■ Therefore I will pun- 
ish you for all your iniquities." They were more 
known to God than others, therefore they should 
have acknowledged him more than others. 

Those who have tasted the goodness of God can 
never speak good enough of God. Reason teaches 
that those should bless most who are most blessed. 
What are carnal men to Christian men? The 
power of God appears in the formation of one ; but 
the stupendous grace of God shines illustriously in 
the transformation of the other. In creation, God 
has given the productions of the earth for our 
bodies : but in redemption he has given himself for 
our souls. Thus it appears to be a greater favor 
to be converted than to be created ; yea, it were 
better for us to have no being, than not to have a 
new being. 

When you were sailing to destruction before 
sin's dangerous blast, then the most blessed gales 
of mercy sprang up and changed your course. 
When you lay in the blood of transgression, then 
God beheld you with bowels of compassion. His 
heart pitied you, and his hand helped you. Now 



where there is distinguishing mercy there ought to 
be distinguishing duty. The husbandman who 
holds the largest farms will pay the greatest rent, 
and he who sows the most precious seed will 
expect the choicest crop. Now read the Great 
Husbandman's complaint against his vineyard: 
"Now will I sing to my beloved a song of my 
beloved, touching his vineyard ; My well beloved 
hath a vineyard on a very fruitful hill ; and he 
fenced it, and gathered out the stones "thereof, and 
planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower 
in the midst, and also made a wine-press therein." 
Here is an inventory of God's goodness to his vine- 
yard. Now what follows? "He looked that it 
should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth 
wild grapes." He looked that they should be 
better to him than others, because he had been 
better to them than he had been to others. 

God had made them flowers of paradise ; while 
others were left as the weeds of the wilderness. 
While others were Satan's thoroughfare, they 
were God's choice in closure. 

How has God embraced you, who are believers 
over many shoulders ! He has made you his own 
dials, on which the beams of the Sun of righteous- 
ness do shine! He has made you studs for his 
crown, while others are stools for his feet ! " Lord, 
how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself to us, and 
not unto the world?" As if he had said, "Lord, 
what are we more than others, that thou shouldst 
show thyself to us; when thou mightest have 
shown thyself to them and not to us?" 

Reader, has God made you a vessel to honor out 



24 

of the same lump ? Has he shown himself to you, 
and not to the world? And will yon not show 
• yourself for God, and not for the world ? Remem- 
ber that it lay as a great blotch on Hezekiah's 
escutcheon, u that he rendered not unto the Lord 
according to the benefit done unto him." 

2. Another reason why Christians do more than 
others, is, because they stand in a nearer relation 
to God than others. 

The nearer the relation, the stronger are the ties 
of obligation. In this view, believers on earth are 
superior to angels in heaven. Christ is related to 
them as a lord to his servants ; but he is united to 
these as a head to its members. In this head 
there are no glazed eyes, nor are there any with- 
ered or dead members in this body. While others 
are made of God, these are born of God. "While 
others stand before him as prisoners before their 
judge, these appear before him as children before 
a father, and as a bride before a bridegroom. 
There are no still-born children in the family of 
grace. God is the living Father, and therefore all 
his children live by him; he is also the everlasting 
Father, and therefore he will have due honor paid 
him. "For a son honoreth his father, and a ser- 
vant his master ; if then I be a father, where is 
mine honor? and if I be a master, where is my 
fear?" As a father he will be revered for his 
goodness, and as a master he will be feared for his 
greatness. 

If honor be not the Lord's due, let him not hnve 
it; if it be his due, let him not be denied it. As 



25 

man was born to serve God, he had better never 
have been born than to refuse him that service. 

When the son of Fulvius was found in the con- 
spiracy of Catiline, the displeased father repre- 
hended him -sharply, saying, Non ego te Catilince, 
genui sed pair ice. u I did not beget you for Cati- 
line, but for your country." This is the language 
of God to his children. "I gave you not bodies 
and souls to serve sin with, but to serve me with." 
Our bodies were not formed to be the instruments 
of unrighteous actions, nor our souls the gloomy 
abodes of foul spirits. 

The everlasting Father cannot brook the ungrate- 
ful behavior of his own children. Therefore attend 
to the great complaint he prefers against them. 
" Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, (for my 
children refuse to hear;) I have nourished and 
brought up children, and they have rebelled 
against me!" Where the relation is the nearest, 
there the provocation is the greatest. It is far 
more pleasing to behold rebels becoming children, 
than to behold children becoming rebels. 

When Caesar was wounded by the senators of 
Rome, Brutus, a Roman of an illustrious family, 
also made a pass at him. With that, Caesar gave 
him a wishful look, saying, "What thou, my son 
Brutus ! " How can that tender mother endure to 
feel those lips sucking her blood which were wont 
to draw her maternal breast ? The unkindness of 
a friend is more sensibly felt than that of an 
enemy. 

The Roman censors took such an utter dislike to 
the debauched son of Africanus, that they refused 
3 



26 

to let him wear a ring on which his father's like- 
ness was engraven; alleging, "that he who was 
so unlike the father's person was unworthy to 
wear the father's picture." Thus God will never 
grant any to enjoy the love of Christ in heaven who 
are destitute of the likeness of Christ on earth. 

Alexander, who is reported to be an exceeding 
swift runner, was once solicited to run in the 
Olympic games. He answered, "I will, if kings 
are mine antagonists." Give me such a saint, who 
will pursue nothing on earth which may be 
unsuitable to his birth from heaven. What, shall 
he walk in darkness whose father is light ! Shall 
those lips be found broaching falsehood which 
were found breathing out prayers ! Shall those 
eyes be found gazing on unseemly objects, which 
were found reading the lively oracles of God ! 

The remembrance of our dignity should engage 
us to our heavenly duty. "It is not for kings, O 
Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine and strong 
drink." Such a sin is detestable in a sovereign 
who has the eyes of his subjects upon him ; but it 
is aggravated in a saint, who has the eyes of his 
Saviour upon him. A spot in scarlet is worse than 
a stain in russet. 

3. Another reason why Christians do more than 
others is, because they profess more than others. 

Though there be many professors who are not 
true believers, yet there are no true believers but 
what are professors. As trees are known by their 
fruits, so believers are known by their works. 
Such as have received Christ's bounty are unwil- 
ling to fight under Satan's banner. 



27 

"There are many who profess to know God, but 
in works deny him ; being abominable, disobedient, 
and to every good work reprobate." Man is not 
what he says, but what he does. For a man to 
say what he does, and not to do what he says, is 
to resemble those trees which are full of leaves but 
void of fruit; or those barns wherein there is much 
chaff, but no grain. " What is the chaff to the 
wheat? saith the Lord." 

Ah, how intolerable will the punishment of those 
professors be, who have appeared as burnished 
gold to men, and are found only base metal in the 
sight of God ! What will it profit to put off the old 
manners, and not put off the-old man? A snake may 
change its skin, and yet preserve its sting. The 
gospel professed may lift a man unto heaven ; but it 
is only the gospel possessed that brings a man into 
heaven. To profess piety, and yet to practise impi- 
ety, will be so far from advancing a man's commen- 
dation, that it will assuredly heighten his condem- 
nation. 

" And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not 
the things that I say?" As if he had said, "Ei- 
ther keep my words more, or else call me Lord no 
more ; either take me into your lives, or cast me 
out of your lips." As princes disdain to have their 
images on base counterfeits, so the Lord Jesus can- 
not delight to see his name on rotten hypocrites. 
Therefore he saith, "Let everyone that nameth 
the name of Christ depart from all iniquity." If 
godliness be evil, why is it so much professed ? if 
it be good, why is it so little practised ? 

"Who hath saved, and called us with an holy 



28 

calling." Now a holy calling will be attended with 
a holy carriage. Many may be found who can 
talk of grace ; but very few can be found who 
taste of grace. It is not every one who looks like 
a Christian, that lives like a Christian. For there 
are some who make their boast of the law, and yet 
through breaking of the law they dishonor God. 
It is a greater glory to us that Ave are allowed to 
serve God, than it is to him that we offer him that 
service. He is not rendered happy by us ; but we 
are made happy by him. He can do without such 
earthly servants ; but we ' cannot do without such 
a heavenly Master. 

It is unnatural for a Christian's tongue to be 
larger than his hand. It is lamentable for him to 
hold a lamp to others, and yet to walk in darkness 
himself. There are generally more infected by the 
undue conduct of some, than there are instructed 
by the righteous doctrines of others. He that gives 
proper precepts, and then sets improper examples, 
resembles that foolish person who labors hard to 
kindle a fire, and when he has done it throws cold 
water upon it to quench it. Though such a phy- 
sician may administer the reviving cordial to some 
fainting disciple, yet he is in danger himself of 
dying in a swoon. I may say of such professors, 
as was once said of a certain preacher, " that 
when he was in the pulpit, it was a pity he should 
ever leave it, he was so excellent an instruc- 
tor ; but when he was out of it, it was a pity he 
should ever ascend it again, he was so wretched a 
liver." 

Many people are offended with the profession of 



29 

religion, because all are not religious who make a 
profession. A little consideration will correct this 
error. Does the sheep despise its fleece because 
the wolf has worn it ? Who blames a crystal river 
because some melancholy men have drowned them- 
selves in its streams ? The best drugs have their 
adulterates. And will you refuse opiate, because 
some have wantonly poisoned themselves with it ? 
Though you have been cozened with false colors, 
yet you should not disesteem that which is dyed in 
grain. He is a bad economist, who, having a spot 
in his garment, cuts off the cloth instead of rub- 
bing off the dirt. God rejects all religion but his 
own. 

4. Another reason why Christians do more than 
others is, because they are inwardly conformed to 
the image of their Redeemer more than others. 

As Jesus Christ is the fountain of all excellency, 
to which all must come ; so he is the pattern of ex- 
cellency, to which all must conform. As he is the 
root on which a saint grows, so he is the rule by 
which a saint walks. God has made one Son in 
the image of us all, that he might make all his 
sons in the image of that one. Jesus Christ lived 
to teach us how to live, and died to teach us how 
to die. Therefore he commands us, saying, "Learn 
of me ; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye 
shall find rest unto your souls." O, reader, if the 
life of Christ be not your pattern, the death of 
Christ will never be your pardon ! Though the 
Lord Jesus was a man of many sorrows, yet he 
was not a man of the least sin. No man can equal- 
s' 



30 * 

izc him in holiness ; yet every man ought to imi- 
tate him in holiness. 

As the sun is the glory of creation, so is Christ 
the glory of redemption. The summit of moral 
religion consists in imitating God; without this your 
religion will be found a Tekel : when it is weighed 
in the balance, it will be wanting. It would be 
well if there were as great a similarity between the 
life of Christ and the life of Christians, as there is 
between a just copy and the original. What he 
was by nature, that we should be by grace. As 
face answereth to face in water, so should life an- 
swer to life in Scripture. He that was a way to 
others, never went out of the way himself. 

A truly religious life is a crystal glass, wherein 
Christ sees his own likeness. In our sacramental 
participations we show forth the death of Christ, 
but in our evangelical conversation we show forth 
the life of Christ. An excellent Christ calls for 
excellent Christians. As he was never unemployed, 
so he was never ill employed; for "he went about 
doing good." As our happiness lay near his heart, 
so his honor should lie near our hearts. 

Jesus Christ even submits his person to be judged 
by his actions. "If I do not the works of my 
Father, believe me not." As if he had said, 
"Never take me for a Saviour if I act contrary to 
a Saviour." Thus should it be with a professor. 
" Never take me for a Christian if I live contrary 
to the life of a Christian." If professors do no 
more than others, it might be said, "Those are men 
and professors, but not men and Christians." 

Man is naturally an aspiring being, and loves to 



31 

be nearest to those who are highest. Why does he 
not therefore take as much delight in those precepts 
which enjoin holiness, as in those promises which 
insure happiness? 

All those who are conformed to the image of the 
Redeemer, are as willing to be ruled by Christ as 
they are to be esteemed by him. He that deems 
his yoke heavy will not find his crown easy. 

By David's language there were many singular 
saints in his day. "To the saints that are in the 
earth, and to the excellent in whom is all my 
delight." Was it so then? and should it not be so 
now? We know the New Testament outshines 
the Old, as much as the sun outshines the moon. 
If we then live in a more glorious dispensation, 
should we not maintain a more glorious conversa- 
tion? 

How blessed would it be for us to have that" 
blessed scripture fulfilled in us, "As he was, so 
are we in this world." Now if we are in this 
world as he was, we shall be in heaven as he is. 
If there be no likeness between Christ and you on 
earth, there can be no friendship between Christ 
^and you in heaven. 

5. Another reason why Christians should do 
more than others, is, because they are looked upon 
more than others. 

If once a man commence a professor, the eyes of 
all are upon him ; and well they may, for his pro- 
fession in the world is a separation from the world. 
Believers condemn those by their lives who con- 
demn them by their lips. Righteous David saw 
many who were waiting to triumph in his mis- 



32 

takes. Hence the more they watched, the more he 
prayed. " Teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead 
me in a plain path, because of mine enemies. 5 ' It 
may be rendered, " because of mine observers." 

Christian, if you dwell in the open tent of 
licentiousness, the wicked will not walk backward, 
like modest Shem and Japheth, to cover your 
shame; but they will walk forward, like cursed 
Ham, to publish it. Thus they make use of your 
weakness as a plea for their wickedness. 

Men are merciless in their censures of Chris- 
tians ; they have no sympathy for their infirmity; 
while God weighs them in more equal scales, and 
says, " The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." 
While the saint is a dove in the eyes of God, he is 
only a raven in the estimation of sinners. 

Consider, Christian, that an unholy conversation 
strips off the rich ornamental jewels from the neck 
of the bride, the Lamb's wife. Sin indulged in a 
believer is like a rent in a rich embroidered gar- 
ment, or like a crack in a silver bell. A foul spot 
is soonest discerned in the fairest cloth. The 
world will sooner make an excuse for its own enor- 
mities than for your infirmities. 

The behavior of some professors has often given 
the wicked an opportunity to reproach religion. 
Lactantius reports, that the heathens were wont to 
say, "The Master could not be good, when his 
disciples were so bad." The malice of sinners is 
such, that they will reproach the rectitude of the 
law for the obliquity of their lives who swerve 
from it. O that your pure life did but hang a pad- 
lock upon their impure lips. Such will ever be 



33 

throwing the dirt of professors upon the face of 
profession. 

If the sun be eclipsed one day, it attracts more 
spectators than if it shone a whole year. So if 
you commit one sin, it will cause you many sor- 
rows, and the world many triumphs. Dr. Whita- 
ker, on reading the fifth of Matthew, brake out, 
saying, Aut hoc non est evangelium, aut nos non 
sumns evangelici. " Either this is not the gospel, 
or we are not of the gospel." The cruelty of the 
Spaniards to the Indians made them refuse Chris- 
tian baptism; "For," said they, " he must be a 
wicked God who has such wicked servants." O 
that God's jewels did but sparkle more in this 
benighted world ! 

That was a glorious encomium given to Zacha- 
rias and Elizabeth: "And they were both right- 
eous before God, walking in all the commandments 
and ordinances of the Lord blameless." God 
made them both righteous, and then men saw them 
righteous. Their religion was undefiled before 
God and the Father, and their lives unspotted from 
the world. 

Reader, would you be righteous in God's sight ? 
then you must be righteous in God's Son. Would 
you be unspotted from the world? then remember 
you are not of the world. When the godly are 
left to fall, then the envious sinner will exclaim, 
" There is your religion." No wonder if a barba- 
rian give the alarm, when the leprosy is in an 
Israelitish house. 

6. Another reason why believers should do more 



34 

than others, is, because if they do no more, it will 
appear that they are no more than others. 

As there is no man so vicious but some relative 
good may be performed by him to man, so there is 
no one so religious but some evil may be com- 
mitted by him against God. As one swallow does 
not prove the approach of summer, neither does 
one good action prove a man a believer. There is 
in every being a natural tendency to some centre. 
God is the centre of the saints, and glory is the 
centre of grace. Now where we do not discoyer 
that bias, we may deny the being. 

Reader, would you be thought more than pub- 
licans and sinners ? then beware of living as pub- 
licans and sinners. Jesus Christ gives you an 
excellent mirror, in his memorable sermon upon 
the mount, for you to behold your own likeness in : 
" Ye shall know them by their fruits." There is 
no ascertaining the quality of a tree but by its 
fruits. When the wheels of a clock move within, 
the hand on the dial will move without. When 
the heart of a man is sound in conversion, then 
the life will be fair in profession. When the con- 
duit is walled in, how shall we judge of the 
spring but by the waters which run through the 
pipes? 

As a sinner will discover the good he wants, so 
a saint will show the good he enjoys. When the 
sun dawns upon the earth it is presently known, 
and when the Sun of Righteousness arises upon 
the heart it cannot be hid. It is said of the 
Saviour, that "he could not be hid." As it is 
with the head, so it is with the members. " Ye 



35 

are the light of the world. 55 "Let your light so 
shine among men that they may see your good 
works. 55 

When Saul was made a sovereign, he had 
another spirit poured out upon him, — a spirit of 
government, for a place of government ; and when 
a sinner is made a saint, he has also another spirit 
poured out upon him. As he is what he was not, 
so he does what he did not. 

It is reported of a harlot, that when she saw a 
certain person with whom she had committed folly, 
she renewed her enticements ; to whom he replied, 
"I am not now what I once was. 55 Though she 
was the same woman that she was before, yet he 
was not the same man he was before. 

Were the sun to give no more light than a star, 
you could not believe he was the regent of the day ; 
were he to transmit no more heat than a glow- 
worm, you would question his being the source of 
elementary heat. Were God to do no more than a 
creature, where would his Godhead be 1 Were a 
man to do no more than a brute, where would his 
manhood be? Were not a saint to excel the 
sinner, where would his sanctity be ? 

Professor, if you live and walk as a worldling, 
you subject yourself to that apostolic rebuke, 
"Are ye not carnal and walk as men? 55 If men 
debase themselves as beasts, the Lord will nomi- 
nate them beasts ; and if Christians walk as men, 
God will call them men. There is no passing for 
current coin in heaven, without the stamp and sig- 
nature of heaven. 



36 

7. The disciples of Christ do more than others, 
because they are appointed to be judges of others. 

If you consult the holy Scriptures, you will find 
that both the Father, the Son, and the saints, are 
to judge the world. The ordination is the Fa- 
ther's, the execution is the Son's, and the approba- 
tion is the saint's. This shall no more derogate 
from the honor of Christ, than the sessions of the 
justices derogates from the authority of the judges. 

When the apostle Paul would quash the sinful 
suits among the believing Corinthians, he informed 
them that they did not so much require men of 
eminence to terminate their controversy, as men 
of godliness. "Do ye not know that the saints 
shall judge the world? and if the world shall be 
judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the 
smallest matters ? If you are to judge in causes 
between God and man, how much more in contro- 
versies between man and man?" If about mat- 
ters that are eternal, why not in affairs that are 
temporal ? 

Felons may be jovial in the prison, and bold at 
the bar ; but they will tremble at the tree. When 
wicked men come like miserable captives out of 
their holes, the godly shall rise like an unclouded 
sun above the horizon of the grave. 

There is a cloud of witnesses to prove the Chris- 
tian's judicial process: — " Enoch, the seventh 
from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, 
the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, 
to execute judgment upon all." Again, he saith, 
" When the Son of man shall sit in the throne of 
his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, 



37 

judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Now the 
world judges the godly, but then the godly shall 
judge the world. The act of the head is imputed 
to the members, and the act of the members is 
acknowledged by the head. 

Reader, in the great day there will be no distinc- 
tion made between him who now sitteth on the 
bench and him who standeth at the bar. Tell me, 
how will you be capable of passing a righteous 
sentence on others for those evils which you have 
lived in the constant commission of? The true 
Christian can cordially subscribe to that ancient 
maxim, " Because I enjoy the greatest share of 
religious majesty, I am therefore entitled to the least 
share of licentious liberty." It was once said to 
Caesar, "Seeing all things are lawful to Csesar, 
therefore it is the less lawful for Caesar to do them." 

"By faith, Noah, being warned of God, pre- 
pared an ark, — by which he condemned the 
world." Noah's believing set him to prosecute his 
building. Thus the sanctified Christian judges 
the world, both by his faith and his practice. 

Christian reader, remember that the gospel purity 
of your life shows to worldlings the impurity of 
theirs. The usual prejudice which the world has 
against religion is, that it makes no man better, 
though it may make some men stricter. 

We too frequently behold that those who exclaim 
against the pride of others are as proud as others. 
As they so constantly meet together, they are 
expected to be more godly ; but they are not more 
godly for their meeting together. Take away 
their profession, and you take away their religion. 
4 



38 

They have nothing belonging to the sheep but its 
skin. 

Mark how the God of Israel expostulates with 
the professing Israel of God : " Hath a nation 
changed their gods? which are yet no gods; 
but my people have changed their glory for that 
which doth not profit." Here is a professing 
people outdone by a people who made no profes- 
sion. If heathens take up their gods, they will 
zealously keep up their gods. They were true to 
the false gods, while Israel was false to the true 
God. 

" Hear, O heavens, and be astonished, O earth." 
Why, what is the matter ? " The ox knoweth his 
owner, and the ass his master's crib; but Israel 
doth not know, my people doth not consider." 
God does not call in a jury of angels to condemn 
them ; but he empanels a jury of oxen and asses 
to pass sentence upon them. Alas, that oxen and 
asses should be more religious than men who pro- 
fessed religion ! In their kind they are more kind. 
If their owners feed them, they readily own their 
owners. 

8. And, lastly, the disciples of Christ do more 
than others, because they expect more than others. 

A true hope of heaven excites an utter dislike to 
the earth. " And every man that hath this hope 
in him, purifies himself, even as he is pure." 
Hope is too pure a plant to flourish or grow in an 
impure soil. 

Reader, you must not look to toil for the prince 
of darkness all the long day of your life, and then 
sup with the prince of light at the evening of 



39 

death. There is no going from Delilah's lap to 
Abraham's bosom. It is not the tyrannic reign of 
sin in your mortal body which makes way for the 
triumphant reign of your soul in eternal glory. 
Grace is such a pilot, as without its steerage you 
will certainly suffer shipwreck in your voyage to 
everlasting tranquillity. 

There is no gaining admittance into the King 
of heaven's privy chamber of felicity, without 
passing through the strait gate of purity. " Blessed 
are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." A 
dusty glass will not distinctly represent the face. 
To look for a Turkish paradise, is to conceive of 
the heaven of purity as of a house of impurity; 
but while they expect to bathe themselves in car- 
nal pleasures, you should look to be the chaste and 
happy consort of the Lamb. 

The Lord's gratuitous bestowments on saints 
awaken the grateful sentiments of saints ; " Giving 
thanks to the Father, who hath made us meet to 
be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in 
light." Men commonly season the vessel with 
water before they trust it with costly wine. Thus 
God will season the vessel of your heart with his 
grace before he pours into it the wine of his glory. 
It is hard to say whether God. discovers more love 
in preparing heavenly mansions for the soul, than 
in preparing the soul for heavenly mansions. 

Reader, if the Lord has made you a true 
believer, you earnestly desire that your present 
deportment may be suitable to your future prefer- 
ment. You know there is no living a vicious life 
m& dying a righteous death. As divine justice 



40 

crushes none on earth before they are corrupted, 
so divine mercy crowns none in heaven before 
they are converted. 

Holiness and happiness are so wisely joined 
together, that God will never suffer them to be put 
asunder; " Follow peace with all men, and holi- 
ness, without which no man shall see the Lord." 
Though holiness be that which a sinner scorns, 
yet it is that which a Saviour crowns. 

The soul of man is the Lord's casket, and grace 
the jewel : now, wherever the jewel is not found, 
the casket will be thrown away. Though the 
wheat be for a garner, yet the chaif is for the fire. 
The Scripture presents you not only with an 
account of what God will do for a Christian, but 
also what a Christian will do for God, 

The high prize of heavenly bliss is at the end 
of the gospel race ; " So run that you may obtain." 
To neglect the race of holiness is to reject the prize 
of happiness. He that made you without your 
assistance, will not crown you till he has saved 
you from your disobedience. 

It would be well for fruitless sinners were they 
seriously to consider that fearful scripture, — 
" Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is 
hewn down and cast into the fire." If you be not 
fruit-bearing plants, you must be burning brands. 
There is no making out your salvation where there 
is no working out your salvation. Men are con- 
demned not only for their profaneness, but also for 
their slothfulness. Men may perish for being 
unprofitable servants, as well as for being abom- 
inable sinners. 



41 

The Lord binds none in the bundle of life but 
such as are heirs of life. " Therefore, my beloved 
brethren, be ye steadfast, immovable, always 
abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as 
ye know that your labor is not in vain in the 
Lord." How cheerfully should those cast in their 
net who are sure to inclose so excellent a draught 
of fishes ! 

Reader, why do you expect more than others in 
heaven, if grace has not made you more than 
others on earth? "If you love them that love 
you, what reward have you?" It is but natural 
that love should be returned to those from whom 
it has been received. Now natural works shall 
have only natural wages. If you would not have 
God put you off with a Pharisee's portion, how can 
you put him off with a Pharisee's performance ? 

The Lord hangs the bait of duty upon the hook 
of mercy. He sets the promises of the gospel in 
the galleries of his ordinances. The hardy soldier 
will undergo a bloody seed-time to enjoy a happy 
harvest. He has nothing more than earthly mam- 
mon in his pursuit ; but the saint has nothing less 
than heavenly mansions in his pursuit. 

Thus have I despatched the first general head ; 
namely, why the disciples of Christ do more than 
others. I therefore come, secondly, to consider 
what the disciples of Christ do more than others. 
And here I shall form a golden chain of twenty 
links, for believers to wear about their necks. 

The first singular action of sanctified Christians 
is, to do much good and make but little noise. 

Some people say much and do nothing; but 
4* 



42 

Christians do much and say nothing. To deserve 
praise where none is obtained, is better than to 
obtain it where none is deserved. The old maxim 
is worthy to be revived, — he that desires honor is 
not worthy of honor. 

" Take heed that you do not your alms before 
men, to be seen of men ; otherwise you have no 
reward of your Father which is in heaven." A 
saint may be seen doing more works than any, and 
yet he does not desire to do any of his works to be 
seen. An alms which is seen is by no means 
unpleasant to God, provided it be not given with a 
design to have it seen. Though good ends make 
not bad actions lawful, yet bad ends make good 
actions sinful. The harp sounds sweetly, yet it 
hears not its own melody. Moses had more glory 
by his vail than he had by his face. It is truly 
pleasant to behold those living in the dust of hu- 
mility, who have raised others from the dust by 
their liberality. 

That ancient caution of our Saviour is very 
suitable to modern times : " Therefore, when thou 
doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before 
thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues, and 
in the streets, that they may have glory from men." 
What the first verse calls doing to be seen of men, 
this calls doing to receive glory from men. 

Hypocrites would never be anxious for men to 
see them, but that by seeing them men should 
praise them. The indigent are more indebted to 
their vanity than to their charity. They give alms 
not so much for the poor to live upon, as for the 
rich to look upon. This is employing the master's 



43 

coin for the servants' gain. Hypocrites are more 
zealous for the market than for the closet. They 
can pray better in the corners of the streets than 
in the corners of their houses. 

It is both meat and drink to a formalist to fast, 
if others do but see it. It is reported that the 
nightingale never sings so sweetly as when others 
stand by to hear its melody. " Come see my zeal 
for the Lord of hosts; 7 ' when there was no zeal 
for the Lord of hosts to be seen. Jehu only made 
religion a stirrup to mount upon the saddle of pop- 
ularity. Sounding souls are seldom souls that are 
sound. The vote of a Jehu is always linked to 
the heart of a Judas. Some persons are like hens, 
which no sooner drop their eggs than they begin 
to chatter. If such bestow a little money on a 
church's repairs, it must be recorded upon glazed 
windows. 

How frequently do the enemies of grace lurk 
under the praises of nature ! While a hypocrite 
is extolled, grace is injured. By how much we 
arrogate to ourselves, we derogate from God's 
honor. Vain-glory is like Naaman's leprosy, — a 
foul spot upon a fair paper. What are the accla- 
mations of man to the approbation of God ? Of 
what real advantage is it to be cried up on earth 
by those about us, and be cried down in heaven by 
him who is above us ? One flaw in a diamond 
diminishes both its splendor and value. Where 
self is the end of our actions, there Satan is th© 
rewarder of them. 

" When thou doest thine alms, let not thy left 
hand know what thy right doeth." Acts of mercy 



44 

are right-hand acts ; but the left hand must not 
know them, because it will make them known. It 
is a singular thing for Christians to do much in 
secret, and to keep it secret when it is done. God 
is nearer to us than we are to ourselves. We need 
not sound a trumpet for anything that is bestowed ; 
for when the great trumpet shall sound, every work 
shall be revealed. 

Where the river is the deepest, the water glides 
the smoothest. Empty casks sound most ; whereas 
the well-fraught vessel silences its own sound. As 
the shadow of the sun is largest when his beams 
are lowest, so we are always least when we make 
ourselves the greatest. "Honor me before the peo- 
ple;" 1 Sam. xv. 30. There is little worth in 
outward splendor if virtue yield it not an inward 
lustre. When the sun is in its meridian, it may 
be masked with a cloud. By climbing of too high 
a bough, you may hang yourselves upon the tree. 
Some had rather suffer the agony of the cross than 
the infamy of the cross. It is more to them to be 
dispraised than it is to be destroyed. " And a cer- 
tain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abim- 
elech's head, and brake his skull; then he called 
hastily unto the young man, his armor-bearer, and 
said unto him, Draw thy sword and slay me, that 
men may not say a woman slew me;" Judg. ix. 
53, 54. Behold, saith one, Homo moritur, at super- 
bia non moritur; " the man dies, but his pride 
dies not." God may reject those as copper whom 
men do adore as silver. "He is a Jew which is 
one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, 
in the spirit, whose praise is not of men, but ot 



45 

God;" Rom. ii. 29. The praise of a hypocrite is 
not of God, but of man ; the praise of an Israelite 
is not of man, but of God. The one desires to 
seem good that he may be praised, the other to be 
good that God may be pleased. The saints on 
earth are to imitate the angels in heaven. " And 
they had the hands of a man under their wings;" 
Ezek. i. 8. They had not their wings under 
their hands, but their hands under their wings. 
Their hands note their activity, their wings 
their celerity; their having their hands under 
their wings, the obscurity of their motions. They 
will not have others to fall down to worship 
them about the throne, but fall down themselves 
to worship him upon the throne. Our Lord Jesus 
Christ, that did the most excellent works that ever 
were done, "He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor suf- 
fer his voice to be heard in the streets ;" Isa. xlii. 
2. He shall not cry, — that is, he shall not be con- 
tentious ; he shall not lift up his voice in the 
streets, — he shall not be vain-glorious. "The 
Pharisee stood and prayed with himself, God, I 
thank thee I am not as other men are, extortioners, 
unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican ;" Luke 
xviii. 11. Hypocrites are better in showing forth 
their own worth than they are in showing forth 
of their wants; at the displaying the banners of 
their perfections than at discovering of the base- 
ness of their transgressions. "I am not as other 
men are;" as if he had been such a fellow as had 
no fellow. Ambition is so great a planet that it 
must have a whole orb to itself, and is impatient 
of a consort. Because he was not so bad as the 



46 

most, he thought himself as good as the best. A 
sun-burnt face seems fair when compared with a 
blackamoor. But can ciphers complete a sum? 
This Pharisee was as far from being religious as he 
was from being scandalous. But upon what foun- 
dation did he rear this superstruction ? verse 12. 
" I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all I pos- 
sess." He proclaims all without doors that is done 
within. They say of the sea it loses as much in 
one part of the land as it gains in another : thus 
what victory formalists seemingly get over one 
lust, they lose it again by being imprisoned to 
another : — they trade not for God's glory, but for 
their own glory. If a tear be shed, or a prayer be 
made, whatever is performed by them shall be 
divulged by them. He that traffics in God's ser- 
vices, to fraught himself with man's praises, suf- 
fers shipwreck in the haven, and loses his wages 
w r hen he comes to receive pay for his works. It is 
storied of Alexander's footman, that he ran so 
swift upon the sand that the print of his footsteps 
were not seen. Thus should it be with Christians; 
nothing is more pleasing unto God than a hand 
that is largely opened and a mouth that is straitly 
closed. Most persons are like Themistocles, that 
never found himself so much contented as when 
he heard himself praised. I will not say a gra- 
cious heart never lifts up itself, but I will say that 
grace in the heart never lifts up itself. Grace in 
the heart ever acts like itself, but a gracious heart 
doth not always so. 

Saints should resemble a spire steeple, which is 
minimus insiimmo, — smallest where it is highest; 



47 

or those orient stars, which, the higher they are 
seated, the less they are viewed. Usually the 
greatest boasters are the smallest workers. The 
deep rivers pay a larger tribute to the sea than 
shallow brooks, and yet empty themselves with 
less noise. I have read of a harlot who offered to 
rebuild the walls of a city, which Alexander had 
demolished, so that she might but set her own arms 
upon them. What will not a hypocrite do, so he 
might but set his own signet upon it when it is 
done ! 

2. Another singular action of a sanctified Chris- 
tian is, to bring up the bottom of his life to the top 
of his light. 

By how far our hearts are set from God's pre- 
cepts to love them, by so far are his ears set from 
our prayers to answer them. David knew this 
when he said, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, 
the Lord will not hear me." Since the tree of 
''knowledge hath been tasted, the key of knowl- 
edge hath been rusted. 

Therefore, u the natural man receive th not the 
things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolish- 
ness to him ; neither can he know them, because 
they are spiritually discerned." Spiritual truths 
oppose the wickedness of human reason ; because 
they are against it, therefore it cannot receive 
them : they also exceed the weakness of human 
reason; because they are above it, therefore it can- 
not perceive them. It is better to be a toe in the 
foot, and that be sound, than to be an eye in the 
head, and that be blind. 

There is a great propriety in the exhortation of 



49 

St. Peter, " But grow in grace, and in the knowl- 
edge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." No 
knowledge can equal that of Christ; no growth 
can equal that of grace. Without grace there may 
be seeming knowledge; but without grace there 
can be no saving knowledge. 

There were more enlightened than enlivened in 
the days of Christ; hence he said, "If ye know 
these things, happy are ye if ye do them." To 
obey the truth, and not know it, is impossible ; to 
know the truth, and not obey it, is unprofitable. 
For, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, 
Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven ; but he 
that doeth the will of my Father which is in 
heaven." Divine knowledge is not as the light 
of the moon, to sleep by; but as the light of the 
sun, to work by. It is not a loiterer in the market- 
place, but a laborer in the vineyard. 

A man may be a great scholar, and yet be a 
great sinner. Judas the traitor was Judas the 
preacher. The toad that has a pearl in its head 
has poison in its bowels. The tree of knowledge 
has often been planted, and flourished, where the 
tree of life never grew. A man may be acquainted 
with the grace of truth, and yet not know the 
truth of grace. Parts, and even all gifts, without 
grace and holiness, are but like Uriah's letters, 
which were the death-warrants of him who carried 
them. 

Naked knowledge will be as unserviceable to 
the soul in a dying day, as a painted fire would be 
to the frozen body in a cold day. As some articles 
are tanned by the same sun in which others are 



49 

whitened, so are some professors hardened under 
the same gospel by which others are softened. 

I would never have that the brand of Christians 
which was the bane of heathens — " Because, 
when they knew God, they glorified him not as 
God." As it is lost labor to smite the flint if it 
propagate no sparks, so it is fruitless toil to fur- 
nish our heads with light if it refine not our hearts. 
Satan may as well put out our eyes, that we 
should not see the truth, as cut off our feet, that 
we should not walk in the truth. Naked knowl- 
edge may make the head giddy, but it will uever 
make the heart holy. 

Who would wait for such a gale as would drive 
them further from the desired haven? or freight 
their vessels with such a cargo as would ruin the 
owner ? Shall we hold the candle of the gospel in 
one hand, and the sword of rebellion in the other 7 ? 
How many professors are there who have light 
enough to know what should* be done, but have 
not love enough to do what they know ! Such 
people have no advantage from carrying a bright 
candle in a dark lantern. Give me the professor 
who perfectly sees the way he should go, and 
readily goes the way he sees. 

That is barren ground which brings forth noth- 
ing except it be forced. " To him that knoweth 
to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." 
The sins of ignorance "are most numerous, but the 
sins of knowledge are most dangerous. That sin- 
ner's darkness will be the greatest in hell whose 
light was the clearest on earth. 

Pharnaces, the son of Mithridates the king of 



50 

Pontus, sending a crown to Caesar, at the time he 
was in rebellion against him, he refused the pres- 
ent, saying, "Let him first lay down his rebellion, 
and then I will receive his crown." There are 
many who set a crown of glory upon the head of 
Christ by a good profession, and yet plat a crown 
of thorns upon his head by an evil conversation. 
By the words of our mouth we may affect to adore 
religion, but it is by the works of our lives that we 
adorn religion. 

It was a just saying ot one, "that in the best 
reformed churches there were the most deformed 
professors." Look to this, reader, that all will be 
pulled down without you if there be nothing set 
up within you. As trees without fruits are un- 
profitable, so knowledge without good works is 
abominable. Leah and Rachel are fit emblems of 
knowledge and obedience : knowledge, like Rachel, 
is beautiful, but obedience, like Leah, is fruitful. 
He that dislikes to do what he knows, will one 
day not know what to do. 

" Be ye wise as serpents and harmless as doves." 
Wise as serpents to guard against the wolf's 
rapacity, and harmless as doves that you may do 
no man any injury. Thus the serpent's eye is an 
ornament when placed in the dove's head. The 
lives of many professors are awfully unlike their 
lights. They have the light of the sun for wis- 
dom, but want the heat of a candle for grace and 
holiness. 

I have read of a painter, who, being warmly 
reprehended by a cardinal for putting too much 
red in the faces of St. Paul and St. Peter, answered, 



51 

" It is to show how much they blush at the conduct 
of many who style themselves their successors." 
Were Abraham, the father of the faithful, now on 
earth, how would he disclaim all relation to many 
who call themselves his offspring! Though there 
was less grace discovered to the saints of old, yet 
there was more grace discovered by them. They 
knew little and did much ; we know much and do 
little. 

John the Baptist was a " burning and shining 
light." To shine is not enough, — a glow-worm 
will do so; to burn is not enough, — a firebrand 
will do so. Light without heat does but little 
good, and heat without light does much harm. 
Give me those Christians who are burning lamps 
as well as shining lights. 

The sun is as vigorous in his moving as he is 
illustrious in his shining. I know the light of 
nature requires grace to repel the lusts of nature. 
Will any say, "The day of hope is dawning 
within them," when the powers of darkness are 
ruling over them ? How monstrous is it to see a 
Christian's tongue larger than his hand! To 
speak so much of God to others, and act so little 
for God himself. 

3. Another singular action of a sanctified Chris- 
tian is, to prefer the duty he owes to God to the 
danger he fears from ?nan. 

Christians in all ages have prized their services 
above their safety. " The wicked flee when no 
man pursueth; but the righteous are bold as a 
lion." The fearful hare trembles at every cry, 
but the courageous lion is unmoved by the great- 



52 

est clamors. Were believers to shrink back at 
every contrary wind that blows, they would never 
make their voyage to heaven. 

"My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let 
it go. JJ Poor Job could hold nothing fast but his 
integrity : grace kept his heart when he could not 
keep his gold. Uprightness is of so fair a com- 
plexion as not to be subject to any alteration by 
the scorching beams of persecution. The laurel 
preserves its verdure amidst the severest blasts of 
winter. Times of trouble have often been times 
of triumph to a believer. Suffering seasons have 
generally been sifting seasons, in which the Chris- 
tian has lost his chaff and the hypocrite his cour- 
age. 

Dangers have frequently made the worldling 
leave his duties. The scythe of persecution cuts 
down the tender grass of his devotion. Those who 
always refuse to carry the yoke of Christ upon their 
necks, will also refuse to carry the cross of Christ 
upon their backs. Nothing less than the enjoy- 
ment of God, who is altogether good, can perma- 
nently support us under the suffering of that which 
is evil. The flesh is an enemy to suffering, 
because suffering is an enemy to the flesh. The 
flesh may make a man an earthly courtier, but it 
will never make a man a Christian martyr. 

Wicked men stumble at every straw in the way 
to heaven, but they climb over hills in the way to 
destruction. Hang heavy weights on rotten boughs, 
and they will suddenly break. If sinners take up 
religion in a fair day, they will eagerly lay it 
down in a foul one. The language of such is, 



53 

11 Lord, we are willing to serve thee, but unwilling 
to suffer for thee. We will go to sea with thee, but 
on condition we have no storms. We have no ob- 
jection to enter into the war, but upon this promise, 
that we have no blows." Such would fain be 
wafted to the port of felicity in such vessels as 
would not be tossed in the sea of calamity. They 
think too much of wearing a thorn, though it be 
borrowed from Christ's crown. 

There are some who would sacrifice a stout 
heart to a stubborn will, , and would rather die 
martyrs for sin than servants to truth. How shall 
those stand for Christ who never stood in Christ ? 
True believers are more studious how to adorn the 
cross than how to avoid the cross. They deem it 
better to be saved in troubled water than to be 
drowned in a calm ocean. 

Temporary professors are like hedge-hogs, which 
have two holes, one to the north, and another to 
the south : when the south wind fans them, they 
open to the north ; and when the north wind chills 
them, they turn to the south. Thus they lose 
their activity to preserve their security. That was 
a beggarly saying which fell from a prince's lips, 
"I will sail no further in the cause of Christ than 
while I can preserve my retreat with safety to 
land." 

Man is a short-sighted creature ; he is afraid to 
follow too far upon the heels of truth, lest it should 
lead him into danger. Weak grace may do for 
God, but it must be strong grace that will die for 
God. A true Christian will lay down his lusts at 
the command of Christ, and his life for the cause 
5* 



54 

of Christ. The more a tree of righteousness is 
shaken by the wind, the more it is rooted in the 
ground. What, art thou a member of Christ, and 
afraid to be a martyr for Christ ! If those be 
blessed who die in Christ, what must they be who 
die for Christ ! 

What though the flesh do return to dust, so the 
spirit return to rest ! What is the body of a man, 
for a soul to live in, compared with the bosom of 
Abraham, for a soul to lie in ! Righteous Abel, 
the first soldier in the church militant, was the 
first saint in the church triumphant. He offered 
up a sacrifice when the altar was sprinkled with 
his own blood. As his body was the first that 
ever took possession of the earth, so his soul was 
the first that ever had a translation to heaven. 

" Should such a man as I flee?" saith Ne- 
hemiah ; a man so much owned and honored of 
God ! It is better to die a conqueror in religion 
than to live a coward in religion. Those who are 
willing to be combatants for God shall also be 
more than conquerors through God. None are so 
truly courageous as those who are truly religious. 
If a Christian live, he knows by whose might he 
stands ; and if he die, he knows for whose sake he 
falls. Where there is no confidence in God, there 
will be no continuance with God. When the 
wind of faith ceases to fill the sails, the ship of 
obedience ceases to plough the seas. The taunts 
of Ishmael shall never make an Isaac disesteem 
his inheritance. 

Reader, if a righteous cause bring you into suf- 
ferings, a righteous God will bring you out of 



55 

sufferings. A Christian is as much indebted to 
his enemies as to his friends. The malicious cru- 
cifixion of Christ wrought out the glorious exal- 
tation of Christ. The worst that men can do 
against believers is the best that they can do for 
believers. The worst they can do to them is to 
send them out of the earth, and the best they can 
do for them is to send them into heaven. 

That was a Christian expression of one of the 
martyrs to his persecutors, " You take a life from 
me that I cannot keep, and bestow a life upon me 
that I cannot lose; which is as if you should rob 
me of counters and furnish me with gold." He 
that is assured of a life that has no end, need not 
care how soon this life shall end. 

Neither the persecuting hand of men nor the 
chastising hand of God relaxed ancient singular 
saints. " All this is come upon us, yet have we 
not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in 
thy covenant. Our heart is not turned back, 
neither have our steps declined from thy way; 
though thou hast sore broken us in the place of 
dragons, and covered us with the shadow of 
death." Believers resemble the moon, which 
emerges from her eclipse by keeping her motion, 
and ceases not to shine because the dogs bark at 
her. Shall we cease to be professors because 
others will not cease to be persecutors'? 

By the seed of the serpent the heel of the 
woman may be bruised, but by the seed of the 
woman the head of the serpent shall be broken. 
A Christian may enjoy a calm of inward peace, 
while he sustains the storms of outward trouble. 



56 

If he enjoy the former, he may expect the latter ; 
if he suffer the latter, he may expect the former. 
There is no spring without its fall, no summer 
without its winter. 

"Many waters" (may drown the world, but 
many waters) M cannot quench love." The water 
of affliction cannot extinguish the fire of affection. 
If the calling of religion cannot be peaceably 
maintained, formalists will quickly shut up their 
windows. They will rather tarry out of the land 
of Canaan than swim to it through the Red sea. 
A man will never sustain trouble for Jesus till ho 
find rest in Jesus. 

Adventurous Peter could cry, "Lord, if it be 
thou, bid me come to thee on the water." Love 
to Christ can walk on the water without drown- 
ing, and lie in the fire without burning. It is said 
of the serpent, " that it cares not to what danger 
it exposes its body, so it can but secure its head. 1 ' 
Thus a Christian cares not to what danger he is 
liable, so Jesus is but honored thereby. 

Paul, who turned the world upside down, could 
not be turned upside down by the world. "None 
of these things move me, neither count I my life 
dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course 
with joy." A saint is inwardly pious when he is 
not outwardly prosperous. The sharper the medi- 
cine is, the sounder the patient is for its operation. 
The higher the flood swells on earth, the nearer 
the ark mounts to heaven. 

God can strike straight strokes with crooked 
sticks, and make Satan's dross burnish his choice 
vessels* Christians are crucified by the world. 



57 

that they might be crucified to the world. God 
makes it their enemy, that he might make them 
enemies to it. Religion is that phoenix which has 
always flourished in its own ashes. While mag- 
istrates defend the truth with their sword, martyrs 
defend it with their blood. The loss of their heads 
hastens the reception of their crowns. 

We should never land in triumph at the haven 
of rest if we were not tossed upon the sea of 
trouble. If Joseph had not been Egypt's prisoner, 
he had never been Egypt's governor. The iron 
chains about his feet ushered in the golden chains 
about his neck. Temporal losses are only gen- 
tle breezes, but eternal losses are insupportable 
storms. 

Reader, tell me, is not Christ, with his cross, for 
a few years, better than Dives, with his dainties, 
for a few days? What comparison is there between 
the short-lived happiness of the wicked, attended 
with everlasting misery, and the short-lived misery 
of the righteous, attended with everlasting happi- 
ness? 

4. Another singular action of a sanctified Chris- 
tian is, to seek the public good of others above the 
private good of himself. 

The sentiment of Plato, a heathen, is worthy to 
be adopted by every Christian : "I was not born 
for myself alone; for my country claims a part, 
my relations claim a part, and my friends claim a 
part in me." As we are not born by ourselves, so 
we are not born for ourselves. 

Baruch, the man of God, was forbid to make 
self the centre of his wishes : " Seekest thou great 



58 

things for thyself? seek them not." For saints to 
set their hearts upon that whereon beasts set their 
feet, is as if a king should abdicate his throne to 
follow the plough, or as if a man should desert a 
golden mine to dig in a pit of gravel. When we 
search ourselves, it denotes that we are virtuous ; 
but when we seek ourselves, it denotes that we are 
covetous. 

I am unwilling to draw a defective feature in 
any man's picture ; yet how many are there who 
have occupied public places with private spirits ! 
While they pretended to undertake everything for 
the good of others, it has appeared that they under- 
took nothing but for the good of themselves. Such 
suckers at the roots have drawn away the sap and 
nourishment from the tree. They have set king- 
doms on fire that they might roast their own veni- 
son at the flames. These drones, stealing into the 
hive, have fed upon the honey, while the laboring 
bees have been famished. 

Too many resemble ravenous birds, which at 
first seem to bewail the dying sheep, but at last 
are found picking out their eyes. These people 
never want fire so long as any yard affords fuel. 
They enrich their own sideboard with other men's 
plate. 

There is a proverb, but none of Solomon's, 
" Every man for himself, and God for us all." 
But where every man is for himself, the Devil will 
have all. Whosoever is a seeker of himself is not 
found of God. Though he may find himself in 
this life, he will lose himself in death. 

The public spirit of Seneca is a sharp censure to 



59 

many private-spirited Christians : " I would so 
live," said he, " as if I knew I received my being 
only for the benefit of others." 

How justly might that complaint be taken up 
which was so sadly laid down by Paul : " For all 
men seek their own, not the things that are Jesus 
Christ's !" If some heathens excel Christians, it 
is not because Christianity does not surpass hea- 
thenism. A selfish man will not sow his seed except 
he reap the whole harvest, nor plant the vines 
except he press all the grapes into, his own vessel. 
The wheel of his diligence will not move except 
the oil of profit be in it. It may be said to many, 
as a great personage once said to his servant, 
" Your rise has been my fall." 

If Dives be tormented because he refused to 
impart his own, what shall their torment be who 
avidiously take that which is another's ! If those 
fingers be cut off which so closely clasp their own 
property, what will become of those hands which 
are always open to grasp at other men's ! 

It was Israel's lamentation, " that those who 
were once clad in scarlet embraced the dunghill." 
It may now be England's lamentation, "that many 
who once embraced the dunghill are now by injus- 
tice clothed in scarlet." Every man's private 
interest is best secured in the public good. A drop 
of water will soon be dried up if alone, but in the 
ocean it will retain its moisture. A single beam of 
light is suddenly obscured, but in the body of the 
sun it retains its splendor. 

Too many, in all ages, have turned a common 
weal into a common woe. They have spun them- 



60 

selves superfine suits out of the nation's fleece. 
Many noble birds have been deplumed that their 
wings might be richly feathered. When any 
springs have been opened, they have laid pipes to 
convey the water into their own cisterns. Such 
pretended pilots have steered the ship of plenty 
into their own haven; but justice will certainly 
squeeze such sponges, and leave them as dry at 
last as they were at first. All those moths shall 
be destroyed which eat into other men's garments. 

For a man to advance his interest out of another's 
property, is to keep all the meat in his mouth and 
starve all the body beside. Naturally, every man 
is his own Alpha and his own Omega. He has 
his beginning from himself and his ending in him- 
self. 

That was a morose speech of Cain to the 
Almighty, — "Am I my brother's keeper?" He 
thought it was not his duty to be his brother's 
keeper, but did not consider that it was against his 
duty to be his brother's assassin. There are many 
who will not be their brothers' keepers, and yet 
will be their butchers. They have riveted them- 
selves into their possessions by the bones of their 
murdered brethren, and paved causeways to honor 
with the skulls of honest men. 

Self-seeking has been so long pulling the ropes, 
that it has rung the passing bell of many nations. 
It is sad to see the house in flames while the cham- 
ber is being furnished, the ship sinking while the 
cabin is filling, or the tree falling while the nest is 
building. But better fruit cannot grow upon the 
trees of cruelty than wantonness and oppression. 



'61 

God will compel them to drink the dregs of that 
cup which they have so unjustly mingled for 
others. 

Queen Esther was a singular saint, for she pre- 
ferred the public to her private good. "If I perish, 
I perish — for how can I endure to see the evil 
which shall come upon my people?" This Israel- 
itess was not more comely in appearance than 
benevolent in her disposition. She did not prefer 
her own life to her people's, but her people's to her 
own. 

When Theodosius lay on his dying pillow, he 
was more studious how to do his kingdom good 
than how to sustain his torturing pains; as appears 
by his counsel to his sons, to whom he left it. " I 
counsel you to be deeply concerned for the promo- 
tion of religion and the good of man; for by this," 
said he, "peace will be preserved and wars no 
more known." 

Though the eagle be the queen of birds, as the 
lion is the king of beasts, yet she was not offered 
up in sacrifice, because she lived upon the spoil of 
others. Grace teaches a Christian not only to act 
like a man to God, but also like a God to man. 

Our Lord Jesus Christ pleased not himself, that 
thereby he might eternally profit us. " For ye 
know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that 
though he was rich yet for our sakes he became 
poor, that ve through his poverty might be rich." 
A drop of his blood is worth more than a sea of 
ours ; and yet he died our death that we might 
live his life, and suffered our hell to bring us to his 
heaven. He lay in the feeble arms of his mother, 
6 



62 

that we might lie in the tender bosom of his 
Father. His love began in his eternal purposes 
of grace, and ends in our eternal possession of 
glory. 

Why was the Bread of Life hungry, but to feed 
the hungry with the bread of life? Why was 
rest itself weary, but to give the weary rest? Why 
did he hang upon the cross on Mount Calvary, but 
that we might sit upon the throne on Mount Zion ? 
His shining face was covered with spittle that our 
disfigured faces might be enamelled with glory ! 
Why did this Jonah cast himself into the sea of 
his Father's wrath, but to save the ship of his 
church from sinking ? Christ is not only the ves- 
sel in which the waters of life are contained, but 
he is also the pipes through which they are con- 
veyed. 

If the mountains overflow with moisture, the 
valleys are the richer ; but if the head be full of ill 
humors, the whole body is the worse. Happy are 
those persons whom God will use as besoms to 
sweep out the dust from his temple, or who shall 
tug at an oar in the boat where Christ and his 
church are embarked. ' 

David was a king that ruled in righteousness, 
and studied not so much to make himself great as 
to make his people happy. "For David, after he 
had served his own generation, by the will of God 
fell asleep." His royal services wer^not swal- 
lowed up in the narrow gulf of self. He did not 
draw all his lines to the ignoble centre of his own 
ends. Such birds are bad in the nest, but worse 
whetf their wings are fledged to fly abroad. He 



63 

served his own generation; not the preceding, 
for that was dead before he was alive; nor the 
succeeding, for he was dead before that was 
alive. 

Every gracious spirit is public ; but every pub- 
lic spirit is not gracious. God may use the mid- 
wifery of the Egyptians to bring forth the children 
of Israelites. An iron key may open a golden 
treasury, and leaden pipes convey pleasant waters. 
Though earthly blessings may be communicated 
to a spiritual man, yet spiritual blessings will not 
be communicated to a carnal man. 

While meteors keep above in the firmament, 
they yield a pleasing lustre; but when they de- 
cline and fall to the earth, they come to nothing. 

Though the name of the author of Psalm 
cxxxvii. be not recorded, yet his generous disposi- 
tion should ever be admired. "If I do not remem- 
ber thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my 
mouth; if I do not prefer Jerusalem above my 
chief joy." Good old Eli mourned more for the 
loss of religion than for the loss of his relations. 
His heart was broken before his neck. If the 
church be lost, Christians cannot be saved ; if the 
church be saved, Christians cannot be lost. 

Augustus Caesar possessed such an entire attach- 
ment to his country that he called it his own 
daughter; and refused to be called its master, 
because he ruled it, not by fear, but by love. After 
his decease, his disconsolate people lamented over 
him, saying, "O would to God that he had never 
lived, or that he had never died !" Those whose 



64 

lives deserve no praises, their death deserves no 
tears. 

A self-seeker lives unrespected and dies unla- 
mented. When once a man becomes a god to 
himself, he then becomes a devil to others. Such 
an one cares not who sinks, so he does but arrive 
safe at shore. Those execrable wretches, whose 
conduct is recorded in the Acts, cared not whether 
a whole city lost their souls, so that a few shrine- 
makers might but preserve their gain. 

It is reported of Agrippina, the mother of Nero, 
who being told "that if ever her son came to be 
an emperor, he would be her murderer," she made 
this reply : " I am content to perish if he#may be 
emperor." What she expressed vain-gloriously, 
that we should do religiously; "Let us perish, so 
our neighbors, our relations, and our country be 
bettered, or the gospel or the Saviour be honored." 
But there are many who entirely reverse this lan- 
guage; if not in words, yet in heart, they say, 
"Let relations, neighbors, country and religion 
perish, so we are benefited thereby." 

Such was the public spirit of Moses, that when 
the Lord proposed to him to destroy Israel, and to 
make a great nation of him, he became intercessor 
for them; yea, even when they were ready to 
stone him. His affection as a ruler was stronger 
than his affection as a father. Thus Joshua, his 
honorable successor, so far imitated him, that he 
first divided Canaan into several allotments and 
portions for the tribes of Israel, before he made 
any provision for his own family. Give me such 



G5 

carvers as lay not all the meat upon their own 
dishes. 

5. Another singular action of a sanctified Chris- 
tian is, to have the most beautiful conversation 
among the blackest persons. 

As an ungodly man poisons the air in which he 
breathes, so he pollutes the age in which he lives. 
The putrid grape corrupts the sound cluster. 
Pious Joseph, by living in the court of Pharaoh, 
had learned to swear by the life of Pharaoh. A 
high-priest's hall instructed Peter how to disclaim 
his suffering Master. Fresh waters lose their 
sweetness by gliding into the salt sea. Those who 
sail among the rocks are in danger of splitting 
their ships. 

When vice runs in a single stream, it is then 
a fordable shallow; but when many of these 
meet together, they then swell a deeper chan- 
nel. The Lord has appointed from the begin- 
ning that enmity shall subsist between the right- 
eous seed of the woman and the unrighteous seed 
of the serpent. There must be no harmony where 
the chief musician will have a jar. It is far better 
to have the ungodly man's enmity than his society. 
By the former he is most hateful, but by the latter 
he is most hurtful. A religious man in the com- 
pany of wicked men is like a green branch among 
dry and burning brands : they can sooner kindle 
him than he can quench them. 

As sheep among the thorns injure their fleeces, 

so saints among sinners do an injury to their 

graces. Hence it is said, " Be ye not unequally 

yoked together with unbelievers ; for what fellow- 

6* 



66 

ship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? 
and what communion hath light with darkness? 
and what concord hath Christ with Belial? or 
what part hath he that believeth with an infidel ? " 
To see a saint and a sinner maintaining familiar 
intercourse with each other, is to behold the living 
and the dead keeping house together. The godly 
are more frequently corrupted by the evil deport- 
ment of the worldling, than the worldling is refined 
by the chaste conversation of the godly. 

The impious lives of the wicked are as con- 
tagious as the most fearful plague that infects the 
air. When the doves of Christ lie among such 
pots, their yellow feathers are sullied. You may 
observe that in the oven the fine bread frequently 
hangs upon the coarse, but the coarse very seldom 
adheres to the fine. If you mix an equal propor- 
tion of sour vinegar and sweet wine together, you 
will find that the vinegar will sooner sour the 
wine than the wine sweeten the vinegar. 

That is a sound body that continues healthful in 
a pest-house. It is a far greater wonder to see a 
saint maintain his purity among sinners than it is 
to behold a sinner becoming pure among saints. 
Christians are not always like fish, which retain 
their freshness in the salt sea; or like the rose, 
which preserves its sweetness among the most 
noisome weeds ; or like the fire, which burns the 
hottest when the season is coldest. 

A good man was once heard to lament, u that as 
often as he went into the company of the wicked, 
he returned less a man from them than he was 
before he joined with them." As it is a singular 



67 

thing to touch melting pitch and not be defiled, so 
it is for saints so to act toward sinners as to do 
much good for them and receive no injury from 
them. If we cannot help them, it is their unholi- 
ness ; if they hurt us, it is our unhappiness. The 
Lord's people, by keeping evil company, are like 
persons who are much exposed to the sun, insensi- 
bly tanned. 

Every Christian is a light in the world, though 
he be not the light of the world. " Let your light 
so shine before men that they, seeing your good 
works, may glorify your Father which is in 
heaven." O that Christians were more like the 
light, which abides pure, though the air be cor- 
rupted in which it dwells ! Men may defile them- 
selves in the light, but they cannot defile the light 
itself. The sun shines throughout an impure 
world, and yet knows no impurity. Ah, how 
many resemble swine in the fairest meadow, 
which would break every mound to find the mire ! 
They remind me of impious Judas, who, instead 
of being a disciple amongst devils, was a devil 
amongst disciples. Poor man, he was all precept, 
and no example. He could attempt to reprove 
one who was innocence itself, and encourage one 
who was sin itself. 

Religious company brings fire to our graces, to 
kindle them when they are freezing ; but irreligious 
company brings water, to quench them when they 
are flaming. 

It is observed by some, " that the sweetest flow- 
ers may be found among the most offensive herbs." 
The poets affirm that " Venus never appeared so 



68 

beautiful as when she sat by black Vulcan's side." 
This we are beyond a doubt concerning, that 
Stephen's face never shone so gloriously in the 
church, where he was admired, as in the council, 
where he was abhorred. Had he been like them, 
they had not disliked him. Had not God given 
him spiritual life, they would never have put him 
to an ignominious death. How will the fire con- 
sume dry fuel, when it prevailed to such a degree 
over the green ! 

That jewel must needs be glorious in the sun 
which glitters in the shade. There are certainly 
many men who can suit with any men. They can 
be professors with professors, and scorners amongst 
scorners. One day they can join the multitude in 
shouting "Hosanna ;" in another day, they can join 
the Pharisees in crying " Crucify him, crucify 
him.' 3 Thus they are like the planet Mercury in 
the horoscope of man's nativity: good in conjunc- 
tion with those who are good, and evil in conjunc- 
tion with those who are evil. 

Every man loves to be admired, and is too apt 
to take pleasure in none but those who take pleas- 
ure in him. It is no honorable appearance when 
we cease to be exemplary Christians that others 
may think us good companions. It is impossible 
to be conformed to the world in our outward man, 
and transformed to God in our inward man. 
There is no such thing as being an outward 
heathen and an inward Christian. There is but 
little difficulty in Englishing the Spanish proverb, 
— "Tell me where you go, and I will tell you 
what you do." We say, " that birds of a feather 



69 

will flock together." To be too intimate with 
sinners is to intimate that we are sinners. 

"As soon as the disciples were let go, they 
returned to their own company." With whom 
should believers join but with believers? There 
is no trusting the tamest nature with the savage 
monster without manifest danger. It is running a 
great risk to be found cohabiting in that house 
where God is not found dwelling. There is no 
sleeping with dogs without swarming with ver- 
min. 

That is a royal "diadem which Christ places 
upon the head of his spouse: "As a lily among 
thorns, so is my beloved among the daughters." 
There are many thorns among the lilies, but 
there are not many lilies among the thorns. It is 
a choice spectacle to behold when a believer pre- 
serves his spiritual beauty amidst the tents of 
Kedar, or when he is like Noah, a new man in an 
old world. Had Lot been polluted with Sodom's 
sin, he might have been consumed in Sodom's 
flames. 

It is ill breathing in an infectious air. Satan's 
progeny love not to go to hell without society. It 
is far better to be with Philpot, in a coal-house, 
than with a Bonner, in a palace. A man may pass 
through Ethiopia and yet be unchanged, but he 
cannot take up his residence there without being 
discolored. 

Ecclesiastical history reports of Valens the em- 
peror, that he, by marrying an Arian lady, was 
corrupted with that error. " Come out of her, my 
people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and 



70 

that ye receive not of her plagues." If Rome leave 
ns in the foundation, let us leave her in the super- 
structure. Where she departs from God, there let 
us depart from her. For when such worms breed 
in the body of a nation, they will soon eat out the 
bowels of religion. Not to guard against such 
wasps is to expose ourselves to the venom of their 
stings. 

6. Another singular action of a sanctified Chris- 
tian is, to choose the worst of sorrovjs before lie will 
commit the least of sins. 

The wicked entirely reverse this, for they will 
prefer the greatest sins to the least sufferings. 
This is to leap out of the burning pan into the 
consuming flame. By seeking to shun an external 
calamity they rush into eternal misery. Spira, 
by laboring to preserve his outward estate, exposed 
himself to the most bitter reproaches of conscience. 
This is as if a man should lose his head to pre- 
serve his hat, or as if the mariner should sink the 
sailing vessel to avoid the rising storm. 

Above every evil we should consider sin as the 
greatest evil. Sin is the only butt at which all 
the arrows of divine vengeance are shot. Sinners 
are those spiders which weave their own webs, 
and are afterward entangled in them. Our own 
destruction is but the fruit of our own trans- 
gression. 

Sin has every evil subjoined to it ; it is the foun- 
tain and origin of them all. Thus the prophet 
viewed it: " Wherefore doth a living man com- 
plain, a man, for the punishment of his sins?" 
When man had no evil within him he had no evil 



71 

upon him. He began to be sorrowful when he began 
to be sinful. When the soul shall be fully released 
from the guilt of iniquity, the body shall be 
wholly delivered from the burden of infirmity. 
Sorrow shall never be a visitant where sin is not 
an inhabitant. The former would be a foreigner 
if the latter were not a sojourner. 

God is as far from beating his children for noth- 
ing as he is from beating them to nothing. A hole 
in the ship will sink it to the bottom. A small 
bite from a serpent will affect the whole body. 
There is no way to calm the sea but by excommu- 
nicating Jonah from the ship. If the root be killed 
the branches will soon be withered. If the spring 
be diminished there is no doubt but the streams 
will soon fail. Where the fuel of corruption is 
removed, there the fire of affliction is extinguished. 

" The wages of sin is death." As the works of 
sin are dishonorable, so the wages of sin are mortal. 
The corruption of nature is the cause of the disso- 
lution of nature. The candle of our lives is blown 
out by the wind of our lusts. Sin is that noxious 
weed which overtops the choicest corn ; that offen- 
sive smoke which depresses the rising flame*, and 
that dismal cloud which overshadows the beam- 
ing sun. 

Were it not for sin, death would never have had 
a beginning ; were it not for death, sin would never 
have an ending. Man, as a creature, is a debtor 
to the commands of God as a sovereign ; but as a 
sinner, he is a debtor to the severity of God as a 
judge. 

What is so sweet a good as Christ? and what is 



72 

so great an evil as lust ? Sin has brought many a 
believer into suffering, and suffering has instru- 
mentally kept many a believer out of sin. It is 
better to be preserved in brine than to rot in honey. 
The bitterest medicine is to be preferred, by all 
wise men, before the sweetest poison. In the same 
fire wherein the dross is consumed the precious 
gold is refined. 

There are many thousands of souls who had 
never obtained the hopes of heaven if they had 
not been brought thither by the gates of hell. As 
every mercy is a drop derived from the ocean of 
God's goodness, so every misery is a dram weighed 
out by the supreme wisdom of God's providence. 

When Eudoxia angrily threatened St. Chrysos- 
tom with banishment, he calmly replied, u Go, tell 
her I fear nothing but sin." He who serves God 
need fear nothing so much as sin. 

Those who launch out into any undertaking 
should always previously look well to their tack- 
ling, lest a destructive storm should overtake them 
in their voyage. A bad conscience imbitters the 
sweetest comforts, but a good conscience sweetens 
the bitterest crosses. How great a wound do vices 
make in the conscience ; yea, even in our infant 
years ! Though the hardened sinner be not afraid 
to do evil, yet he will be afraid to suffer evil. 
What need those fear a cross on the back who feel 
a Christ in their heart ? 

The water without the ship may toss it, but it 
is the water within the ship which sinks it. It is 
better to have the body consumed to ashes for the 
sake of Christ, than to have the soul dwell in ever- 



\ 



73 

lasting burnings through being ashamed of Christ. 
Though Christians have no warrant to expect that 
they shall live here without afflictions, yet in the 
exercise of them faith will teach them to live above 
afflictions. 

That noble servant of Christ, Ignatius, gloried 
in reproaches for his Lord: "I verily delight to 
suffer, (for Christ,) but I know not whether I am 
worthy to suffer." Every Christian's Patmos is 
his way to paradise. 

Suppose the furnace be heated seven times hot- 
ter, yet God can make the sufferer seventy times 
happier. Those who are here crossed for well- 
doing shall hereafter be crowned with the well 
dying. There are none more welcome to the 
spiritual Canaan than those who swim to it 
through the Red sea of their own blood. 

Christian reader, when you come into the world 
you do but live to die again ; and when you leave 
the world you do but die to live again. What, is 
the grain the worse for the fan by which it is win- 
nowed ? or the gold for the fire by which it is 
refined ? 

Pendleton, a self-confident professor, promised to 
fry out his fat body in the flames of martyrdom 
rather than betray religion ; but when the trial 
approached he changed his note, and said, " I 
came not into the world burning, neither will I go 
out of the world flaming." 

Those who refuse to give up their lusts for Christ 

will never be inclined to give up their lives for 

Christ. Paul and Silas had their prison songs in 

their prison sufferings. Those caged birds sang 

7 



74 

with as much melody as any which have sky lib 
erty. Thus Ignatius, in his epistle to the perse- 
cutors of the church, gloried, saying, "The wild 
beasts may grind me as corn between their teeth, 
but I shall by that become as choice bread in the 
hand of my God." 

I have read an account of a woman who was 
imprisoned for her religion, and being in travail 
she cried out with pain. The keeper derided her, 
saying, " How can you endure the fire, seeing you 
make so much noise in bringing forth a child ?" 
u Very well," said she; "for now I snifer as a sin- 
ner, but then I shall suffer for my Saviour." There 
is more real evil in a particle of corruption than in 
an ocean of tribulation. In suffering, the offence 
is offered to us ; in sinning, the offence is committed 
against God. 

In suffering, there is an infringement of man's 
liberty ; in sinning, there is a denial of God's 
authority. The evil of suffering is transient, but 
the evil of sin is permanent. In suffering we lose 
the favor of men, but in sinning we hazard the 
favor of God. 

The rose is sweeter under the still where it drops 
than upon the stalk whereon it grows. The face 
of godliness is never so beautiful as when it is spit 
upon. The best of wheat is that which sustains 
all the drifts of wintry snow. 

That was a heroic saying of Yincentius to his 
hardened persecutors, "You may rage and do 
your worst ; but you shall find the Spirit of God 
administering more strength to the tormented than 
the spirit of the devil affording strength to my tor- 



75 

mentors." Where professors choose that which is 
truly best, there let malicious persecutors do their 
worst. Though you may feel their might, yet you 
need not fear their malice. They can have no 
just grounds of fear whose confidence is in God. 
Life is only to be desired by those to whom death 
would be no gain. 

It is reported of Hooper the martyr, that, when 
he was going to suffer, a certain person addressed 
him, saying, "O, sir, take care of yourself, for life 
is sweet and death is bitter." " Ah, I know that," 
replied he; "but the life to come is full of more 
sweetness than this mortal life, and the death to 
come is full of more bitterness than this uncommon 
death." A man may suffer without sinning, but 
he cannot sin without suffering. 

When Philip inquired of Demosthenes whether 
he was afraid to lose his head, he answered, " No; 
for if I do lose it the Athenians will bestow an 
immortal one upon me." 

That was animating language which dropped 
from the lips of the three children, or rather of the 
three champions : "O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not 
careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, 
our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from 
the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us 
out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known 
unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, 
nor worship the golden image that thou hast set 
up." Either they must sin foully or suffer sadly. 
They must either bow to a golden image or burn 
in a flaming furnace. But they were as far from 



76 

worshipping his gods as he was from worshipping 
their God. 

The beloved Daniel chose rather to lie in the 
den of lions than shamefully desert the cause of 
the Lamb. Shall not we for his sake bear the 
wrath of man, who for our sakes bore the wrath 
of God 1 Though obedience be better than sacri- 
fice, yet sometimes for a man to sacrifice himself is 
the best obedience. He that loses a base life for 
Christ shall hereafter find a better life in Christ. 

When Herod and Nicetes attempted to turn Pol- 
ycarp from the faith, by insinuating that " there 
was no evil in calling Caesar lord, and offering 
sacrifices to him," he replied, that " he had served 
Jesus Christ for many years, and had always 
found him a good Master ; that he should there- 
fore submit himself to all the tortures they should 
inflict, rather than deny him." 

Moses, that memorable worthy, " chose rather to 
suffer affliction with the people of God, than enjoy 
the pleasures of sin for a season." What is a cup 
of physic, which removes a disease, compared 
with a cup of poison, which takes away the life ? 
Those who live upon God in the use of the crea- 
ture, can also live upon him in the loss of the 
creature. That was a noble expression of a noble 
Christian, — " Whatsoever I thankfully receive as 
a token of God's love to me, I part with content- 
edly as a token of my love to him." 

" For a righteous man scarcely will one die ; yet 
peradventure for a good man some would even 
dare to die." Shall one even dare to die for a good 
man ? and shall we refuse to die for a good God ? 



77 

" Others were tortured, not accepting deliver- 
ance, that they might obtain a better resurrection." 
Some would have used any picklock to have 
opened a passage to their liberty ; but they knew 
too much of another world to bid at so high a rate 
for the present. 

It is reported of Hormisdas, a nobleman of Per- 
sia, who being degraded of all his promotions 
because he would not change his profession, that 
afterward his persecutors restored them all again, 
and solicited him to deny Christ ; but he rent his 
purple robe, and laid all his honors at the feet of 
the emperor, saying, " If you restore these honors 
with an intention to make me desert my Saviour, 
I beg leave to decline accepting them upon such 
conditions." Good man! he thought, and that 
justly too, that Christ without worldly honor was 
better than worldly honor without Christ. 

It is recorded concerning one of the martyrs, 
that when he was going to the stake a nobleman 
besought him, in a compassionate manner, to take 
care of his soul. "So I will," he replied; "for I 
give my body to be burnt, rather than have my 
soul defiled." How many professors are there 
who would rather have sinful self satisfied than 
crucified ! 

As the power of grace comes in at one door the 
love of vice will go out at another. The only way 
to have the house of Saul weakened is to get the 
house of David strengthened. Those Philistines 
who wanted fortitude to meet Samson when he 
was in vigor, could insultingly dance round him 
when he was in affliction. 
7* 



78 

Reader, consider seriously that it is sin which 
in this life debases a person, and in the next life 
destroys him. Their state must be awful whose 
end is damnation, because their damnation is with- 
out end. No condition can be so intolerably 
doleful as that which is unalterably painful. 

A certain person, on seeing a Christian woman 
go cheerfully to prison, said to her, " O, you have 
not yet tasted of the bitterness of death." She 
as cheerfully answered, " No, nor ever shall; for 
Christ hath promised that those who keep his say- 
ings shall never see death." A believer may feel 
the stroke of death, but he shall never feel the 
sting of death. The first death may bring his 
body to corruption, but the second death shall 
never bring his soul to destruction. Though he 
may endure the cross, yet he shall not endure the 
curse. There can be no condemnation to those 
Christians who belong to Christ. 

7. Another singular action of a sanctified Chris- 
tian is, to be a father to all in charity r , and yet a 
servant to all in humility. 

First; to be a father to all in charity. That 
crop that is sown in mercy shall be reaped in glory. 
In heaven there are riches enough, but no poor to 
receive them. In hell there are poor enough, but 
no rich to relieve them. How many of the most 
wealthy are deaf to the most importunate requests 
for mercy ! They will do no good in the world 
with the goods of the world. They too much 
resemble sponges, which greedily suck up the 
waters, but will not yield a return of them again 
till they are well squeezed. 



79 

Necessity is not likely to be supplied by the 
hand of misery , while so many who would help 
cannot for want of ability, and so many who may 
help will not for want of charity. There is not a 
drop of water for such a Dives in hell, who has 
not a crumb of bread for a poor distressed Lazarus 
upon earth. Every act of charity is but an act of 
equity. It is not the bestowment of our gifts, but 
the payment of our debts. 

The rich man's superfluity was ordained to 
relieve the poor man's necessity. A lady, on giv- 
ing sixpence to a beggar, accosted him thus : tt I 
have now given you more than ever God gave 
me." To whom he replied, " No, madam; God 
hath given you all your abundance." " That is 
your mistake," said she, " for he hath but lent it 
me, that I might bestow it on such as you." 

John, the beloved disciple of Christ, inculcates 
the doctrine of love to the disciples of Christ : 
" Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is 
born of God ; and every one that loveth him that 
begat, loveth him also that is begotten of him." 
As holiness works a likeness to him that begets 
it, so it works a love to those who enjoy it. It is 
impossible for any one to love the person of Christ 
who does not delight in the picture of Christ. He 
that loves himself will not hate his brother. While 
he is out of charity with his brother, he shows 
that God is out of charity with him ; and we lose 
more for want of God's love than our brethren 
lose for want of our love. 

He is not a covetous man who lays up something 
providentially, but he is a covetous man who gives 



80 

out nothing willingly. He is as prudent a man 
who sometimes distributes discreetly, as he who 
accumulates hastily. Men frequently discover 
more wisdom in laying out than in laying up. 

Reader, the hope of living long on earth should 
not make you covetous ; but the prospect of living 
long in heaven should make you bounteous. 
Though the sun of charity rise at home, yet it 
should always set abroad. 

Seneca, the heathen, inculcates a principle wor- 
thy of the credence of every Christian : I believe 
"I truly enjoy no more of the world's affluence 
than what I willingly distribute to the necessitous." 
Without your mercy the poor cannot live on earth, 
and without God's mercy you shall not live in 
heaven. Some men's churlishness entirely swal- 
lows up their charitableness. Instead of praying 
one for another, they are making a prey one of 
another. 

When I consider that our hearts are no softer, 
I wonder that the times are no harder. It is a 
reproach to many rich men that God should give 
them so much, and that they should give the poor 
so little. 

Some observe that the most barren grounds are 
nearest to the richest mines. It is too often true, 
in a spiritual sense, that those whom God hath 
made the most fruitful in estates are most barren 
in good works. It is too generally true that the 
rich spend their substance wantonly, while the 
poor give their alms willingly. A penny comes 
with more difficulty out of a bag that is pressing 



81 

full, than a shilling out of a purse that is half 
empty. 

Wherefore doth the Lord make your cup run 
over, but that other men's lips might taste the 
liquor ? The showers that fall upon the highest 
mountains should glide in the lowest valleys. 
"Give, and it shall be given you," is a maxim 
little believed. 

It is infidelity which is the spring of all cruelty ; 
so that wheresoever you can discover the face of 
one you may also hear the sound of the other's 
feet. If you deny relief to those who are virtuous, 
you kill laborious bees ; if you bestow your gifts 
on those who are vicious, you do but support 
drones : but it is better to favor a bastard than to 
murder a legitimate child. God looks not so much 
on the merits of the beggar as upon the mercy of 
the giver. 

"He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; 
and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do 
justly, and love mercy, and to walk humbly with 
thy God?" Here is a trinity of precepts from a 
trinity of persons. Pharisees delight more to 
plead this precept than to practise it ; which is as 
if a man should cry up the kindness of his king, 
and at the same time join in rebellion against him. 
If all were rich, no alms need be received ; if all 
were poor, no alms could be bestowed. 

God, who could have made all men wealthy, 
hath made most men poor, that the poor might 
have Christ for an example of patience, and the 
rich for an example of goodness. Cruelty is one 
of the highest scandals to piety ; for, instead 



82 

of turning lions into lambs, it turns lambs into 
lions. 

" Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also 
is merciful." Clemency is one of the brightest 
diamonds in the crown of majesty. How cheer- 
fully should we take off the copy, when we con- 
sider who has set us the example : " Be ye there- 
fore perfect, even as your. Father which is in 
heaven is perfect." What one scripture calls 
mercy, the other styles perfection ; as if this one 
perfection of mercy included all. He that show- 
eth mercy when it may be best spared will receive 
mercy when it shall most be needed. 

It is reported of one of the dukes of Savoy, that, 
being asked by certain ambassadors at his court 
what hounds he kept, he conducted them into a 
large room, where there were a number of poor 
people sitting at table. " These,? said he, "are 
are all the hounds I have upon earth, and with 
whom I am in pursuit of the kingdom of heaven." 
It is counted an honor to live like princes, but it is 
a greater honor to give like princes. 

" Pure religion, and undefiled before God and 
the Father, is this: to visit the fatherless and 
widows in their affliction, and to keep himself 
unspotted from the world." The flames of piety 
towards God must be accompanied with the incense 
of charity towards man. Mercy is so good a ser- 
vant that it will never suffer its master to die a 
beggar. 

Those who have drained their own wells dry in 
order to fill the poor man's cistern, shall never 
perish for want of water to quench their thirst. 



83 

Those who have blessed others shall be blessed 
themselves. 

"Then shall the King say unto them on his 
right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit 
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation 
of the world. For I was an hungered, and ye 
gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me 
drink." Mercy is the queen of beauty, and the 
blessed offspring of the King of glory. 

Scarce any virtue in the whole Scripture has 
been returned with greater interest than the love 
of mercy. Though charity may make your purse 
lighter one day, yet it will make it heavier another. 
All who have their names registered in the book 
of eternity will have the poor man's distresses 
recorded upon the heart of sympathy ; for though 
they.be so poor as to be unable to relieve him, yet 
they are so tender as to pity him. I know no bet- 
ter way to preserve your meal than by parting 
with your cake. Methinks full breasts should 
milk themselves without drawing, and large springs 
should send forth their waters without pumping. 
Your benevolence should seek the poor before the 
poor seek your benevolence. 

" Put on, therefore, (as the elect of God,) bowels 
of mercy." He that hath put off the bowels of 
compassion hath put off the badge of election. 
Many can love at their tongue's end, but the godly 
love at their finger's end. If a man be naked it is 
easy for the miser to bid him be clothed ; or if he 
be empty he can easily bid him be filled ; as if 
poor Christians were like chameleons, able to live 
upon the air? Liberality does not consist in good 



84 

words, but in good works. The doubtful are to be 
resolved by our counsels, but the necessitous are to 
be relieved by our morsels. Methinks it is exceed- 
ing lovely to behold the pictures of purity, though 
they be hung in the frames of poverty. 

Reader, would you be covetous of anything? 
let it be rather to lay out on necessity than to lay 
up for posterity. Hospitality is seed; and the 
husbandman does not become wealthy by saving, 
but by sowing, of his seed. 

Secondly; A servant to all in humility. 

Our first fall was by rising against God, but our 
best rise is by falling down before him. The 
acknowledgment of our own impotence is the only 
stock upon which the Lord ingrafts divine assist- 
ance. 

An humble saint looks most like a citizen of 
heaven. " Whosoever will be chief among you, 
let him be your servant." He is the most lovely 
professor who is the most lowly professor. As 
incense smells the sweetest when it is beaten 
smallest, so saints look fairest when they lie low- 
est. Arrogance in the soul resembles the spleen in 
the body, which grows most while other parts are 
decaying. God will not suffer such a weed to 
grow in his garden without taking some course to 
root it up. A believer is like a vessel cast into the 
sea, — the more it fills the more it sinks. 

" Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty 
spirit before a fall." The flowing river quickly 
turns to an ebbing water. It is not all the world 
that can pull a humble man down, because God 
will exalt him ; nor is it all the world that can 



85 

keep a proud man up, because God will debase 
him. 

Do but mark how one of the best of saints views 
himself as one of the least of saints: "For I am 
the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be 
called an apostle." In the highest heavens the 
beams of majesty are displayed, but to the lowest 
hearts the bowels of mercy are discovered. " Be 
ye clothed with humility." Pride is a sinner's tor- 
ment, but humility is a saint's ornament. The 
cloth of humility should always be worn on the 
back of Christianity. 

God many times places a thorn in the flesh to 
pierce the bladder of pride. He makes us feel a 
sense of our misery that we may sue for his 
unmerited mercy. The first Adam was for self- 
advancement, but the second Adam is for self- 
abasement ; the former was for having self deified, 
the latter is for having self crucified. 

Though there may be something left by self- 
denial, yet there can be nothing lost by self-denial ; 
nay, a man can never enjoy himself till he be 
brought to deny himself. We live by dying to 
ourselves, and die by living to ourselves. There is 
no proud man but what is foolish, and scarcely 
any foolish man but what is proud. It is the 
night-owl of ignorance which broods and hatches 
the peacock of pride. 

God abhors them worst who adore themselves 
most. Pride is not a Bethel, that is, a house where 
God dwells ; but a Babel, that is, a noisome dun- 
geon in which Satan abides. It is not only a most 
hateful evil, but it is a radical evil. As all other 
-8 



86 

lusts are found lodging in it, so they are found 
springing from it. It is a foul leprosy in the face 
of morality, and a hurtful worm gnawing at the 
root of humility. It is a swelling dropsy within 
and a spreading plague without. 

" Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, 
but giveth grace unto the humble." Give me the 
homely vessel of humility, which God shall pre- 
serve and fill with the wine of his grace, rather 
than the varnished cup of pride, which he will 
dash in pieces like a potter's vessel. Where hu- 
mility is the corner-stone, there glory shall be the 
top-stone. 

It is impossible to have true thoughts of our- 
selves while we entertain high thoughts of our- 
selves. " Though all men forsake thee, yet will 
not I." Poor Peter, he was the most impotent 
when he was the most arrogant. He had no 
doubt of standing while others were falling ; but it 
proved at last that he fell while others stood. 

That was an excellent saying of one, — " Where 
a gracious person would sit below me, I will 
acknowledge his dignity; but where a proud per- 
son would move above me, I will abhor his van- 
ity." An humble heart may meet with opposition 
from man, but it shall meet with approbation from 
God. As humility is a grace very excellent in 
itself, so it is very pleasing to God. He who is a 
subject of the former shall hereafter be an inheritor 
with the latter. 

8. Another singular action of a sanctified Chris- 
tian is, to mourn most before God for those lusts 
ivhich appear least before men. 



87 

Others cannot mourn in secret for public sins, 
but we should mourn in public for our secret sins. 
That must be sought with repentance which has 
been so long lost by disobedience. Outward acts 
are more scandalous among men, but inward lusts 
are most dangerous before God. Reader, if you 
would know the heart of your sin, then you must 
know the sins of your heart ; for " Out of the heart 
proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornica- 
tions, thefts, false witness, blasphemies." These 
streams of defilement which appear in your life 
do but # show what a fountain of wickedness there 
is in your heart. Even u the thought of foolish- 
ness is sin. 7 ' " When sin hath conceived it bring- 
eth forth death." There is no sin so little as not 
to kindle an eternal fire ; its first-born is death, and 
its last-born is hell. 

Though repentance be the act of man, yet it is 
the gift of God ; it requires the same power to melt 
the heart as to make it. As we are deeply fallen 
from a state of innocence, so we should rise to a 
state of penitence. Those sins shall never make a 
hell for us which are a hell to us. Some people 
do nothing more than make work for repentance, 
and yet do nothing less than repent of their 
works. They have sin enough for all their sor- 
rows, but not sorrow enough for all their sins. 
Their eyes are casements to let in lusts, when they 
should be flood-gates to pour out tears. 

When godly sorrow takes possession of the 
house it will quickly shut sin out of doors. There 
must be a falling out with our lusts before there 
t^an be a genuine falling off from our lusts ; a loath- 



88 

ing of sin in our affections before a true leaving of 
sin in our actions. It is a hearty mourning for 
our transgressions which makes way for a happy 
funeral of our corruptions. • 

O sinner ! you have filled the book of God with 
your sins, and will you not fill the bottle of God 
with your tears? Remember that when Christ 
draws the likeness of the new creature, his first 
pencil is dipped in water. " Except ye repent ye 
shall all likewise perish." Is it not better to 
repent without perishing, than to perish without 
repenting ? Godly sorrow is such a grace as with- 
out it not a soul shall be saved, and with it not a 
soul shall be lost. Is it not therefore better to 
swim in the water-works of repentance, than to 
burn in the fire- works of vengeance ? Think not 
that the tears which in hell are offered will in the 
least abate the torments which in hell are suffered. 
Repentance is an invaluable grace, for it is the 
bestowment of an invaluable Saviour. " Him hath 
God exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give 
repentance to Israel, and remission of sins." As a 
Prince he gives repentance, and as a Priest he gives 
pardon. Our humiliation is the fruit of his exal- 
tation; as he was abased for the creature's ad- 
vancement, so he was exalted for the creature's 
abasement. Remember, sinner, if your heart be 
not broken in you, your guilt is not broken from 
you. If you lay not your sins to heart that you 
may be humbled, God will lay your sins to your 
charge that you may be damned. Though repent- 
ance be not a pardon's obtainer, yet it is a pardon's 
forerunner. 



89 

He that lives in sin without repentance shall die 
in sin without forgiveness. There is no coming to 
the fair haven of glory, without sailing through the 
narrow strait of repentance. Christ Jesus rejoices 
over those as blessed, who mourn over themselves 
as cursed. " Blessed are they that mourn, for 
they shall be comforted." Out of the saltest water 
God can brew the sweetest liquor. The skilful 
bee gathers the best honey from the bitterest 
herbs. When the cloud has been dissolved into a 
shower there presently follows a glorious sun- 
shine. The more a stone is wounded by the hand 
of the engraver, the greater beauty is superinduced 
thereon. By groans unutterable the Lord ushers 
in joys unspeakable. 

None do more sing in the possession of Christ 
than such as most lament the departure of Christ ; 
usually their joys are commensurate to their sor- 
rows. A tender heart is like melting wax ; ah, 
what choice impressions are made upon such dis- 
positions ! 

A Christian should mourn more for the lusts of 
the flesh than for the works of the flesh ; for the 
sin of our nature transcends the nature of all our 
outward sins. Carnal sins defile the soul by the 
body, but spiritual sins defile the soul in the 
body. Many people can mourn over a body from 
which a soul is departed, but they cannot mourn 
over a soul whom God has deserted. Alas ! 
what is the bite of a fly to the stinging of a scor- 
pion ? or a spot in the face to a stab in the heart ? 
Inward diseases are least visible, and yet most 
8* 



90 

fatal. A man may die of the plague, although his 
spots never appear. 

Sin in the soul' is like Jonah in the ship ; it turns 
the smoothest water into a troubled ocean. We 
must mourn for sin on earth, or burn for sin in hell. 
It is the coldness of our hearts which kindles the 
fire of God's anger. "They shall look upon him 
whom they have pierced, and mourn for him as 
one that mourneth for his only son ; and shall be 
in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for 
his first-born. Christians, the nails that pierced 
his hands should now pierce your heart ; you 
should now be deeply wounded with godly sorrow 
for having so deeply wounded him with your 
deadly sins. It should grieve your spirits to 
remember how much you have grieved his spirit. 

A believer puts on the sackcloth of contrition for 
having put off the garment of perfection. As the 
sugar-loaf is dissolved, and weeps itself away 
when dipped in wine, so do our hearts melt under 
a sense of divine love. Our language at such a 
season is, u O that we should be such base chil- 
dren to so blessed a Father ! n 

Man must be convinced of sin before he can 
truly repent of sin; unbelief in the heart is like 
the worm in Jonah's gourd, an unseen adversary ; 
it is least visible but most hurtful. Infidelity is 
the worst of robbers ; it both plunders and wounds 
the soul. Christ may dwell in the heart where it 
lurks, but not where it reigns. If Christ destroy its 
armor it becomes weak as other men. Its chief 
strength wherein it trusteth is ignorance; and no 
wonder why men sigh so little for sin, when they 



91 

see so little of sin. They have tears enough for 
their outward losses, but none for their inward 
lusts; they can mourn for the evil which sin 
brings, but not for sin which brings the evil. 

Pharaoh more lamented the hard strokes that 
were upon him than the hard heart which was 
within him. Esau mourned, not because he sold 
the birth-right, which was his sin, but because he 
lost the blessing, which was his punishment. This 
is like weeping with an onion — the eye sheds tears 
because it smarts. A mariner casts overboard that 
cargo in a tempest which he courts the return of 
when the winds are silenced. Many complain 
more of the sorrows to which they are born than 
of the sins with which they were born; they 
tremble more at the vengeance of sin than the 
venom of sin ; one delights them, the other affrights 
them. 

" The sinners in Zion are afraid, fearfulness 
hath surprised the hypocrites." Why, what is the 
matter? " Who amongst us shall dwell in ever- 
lasting burnings?" They feared corruption, not 
as it was a coal that defiled, but as it was a fire 
that burned them. A stroke from justice broke 
the heart of Judas into despair, while a look from 
mercy melted Peter's heart into tears. 

There are two things in our sins, the devilish- 
ness of them and the dangerousness of them. 
Now take a saint and a sinner; the first says, 
" What have I done? " the last says, " What must 
I suffer?" One mourns for the active evil, the 
other for the passive evil. The former grieves 
because his soul is defiled, the latter because his 



92 

soul is condemned. Water may gush from a rock 
when it is smitten with a rod, but all such streams 
are lost, for they neither quench the flames of hell 
nor fill God's bottles in heaven. 

Our whole life should be a life of repentance, and 
such as needeth not to be repented of. While the 
vessel is leaking the pump may be going. Reader, 
it is an unfavorable symptom if you can wipe 
away tears from your eyes before God has washed 
away guilt from your conscience. Is it not better 
travelling to heaven sadly, than to hell securely ? 
Give me a sorrowful saint rather than a merry 
sinner. 

Did the rocks rend when Christ died for sin; 
and shall not our hearts rend for having lived in 
sin ? " If we confess our sin, he is faithful and just 
to forgive us our sin, and to cleanse us from all 
unrighteousness." Did ever words like these drop 
from the lips of any being except God's? Here 
the sinner is desired only to acknowledge the debt, 
and the bond shall be cancelled. Is it not therefore 
better to be saved by divine mercy than to be sued 
by divine justice ? As soon as we are oppressed 
and groan under our own burdens, we are sure to 
be eased by Christ's shoulders. If we remember 
our offences with unfeigned grief, the offended Lord 
joyfully forgives and forgets them all. 

Where misery passes undiscerned, there mercy 
passes undesired. Christ may knock long at such 
doors before he gains admittance. He only enters 
into those who enter into themselves. " Behold, I 
stand at the door and knock." Christ oftener 
comes to the door than he enters the house. As 



93 

we knock at his door for audience, so lie docs at 
ours for entrance. If his person be shut out, our 
prayers will be shut out. Why should God show 
him mercy who never acknowledged himself 
guilty ? A saint's tears are better than a sinner's 
triumphs. Bernard saith, Lachrymce poenitentiitm 
stmt vinam Angelorum. " The tears of penitents 
are the wine of angels." 

When a sinner repents the angels rejoice ; and 
give me such a mourning on earth as creates 
music in heaven. Many are battered as lead by 
the hammer, who were never bettered as gold by 
the fire. Sometimes that repentance which begins 
in the fears of hell ends in the flames of hell. 

9. Another singular action of a sanctified Chris- 
tian is, to keep his heart the lowest when God raises 
his estates the highest. 

St. Paul saw the need of this when he enjoined 
Timothy to charge those that were rich in this 
world not to be high-minded, nor trust in uncer- 
tain riches. Sinful arrogance usually attends crea- 
ture confidence. Worldly wealthiness is a quill 
to swell the bladder of high-mindedness ; for when 
men's estates are lifted up, it is but too common for 
men's hearts to be puffed up. Oh, how fond is thin 
dust of thick clay ! Pride breeds in great estates 
as worms do in sweet fruits. 

Remember, Christian, if you be poor in the 
world you should be rich in faith ; and if you be 
rich in this world you should be poor in spirit. 
The way to ascend is to descend; the deeper a 
tree roots the wider do its branches spread. The 
sun of prosperity shines the clearest in the sphere 



94 

of humility. The true nobility of the mind con- 
sists in the humbleness of the mind. Consider, 
that as none have so little but they have great 
cause to bless God, so none have so much as to 
have the least cause to boast before God. 

Shall the theatrical vagrant be proud of his bor- 
rowed robes, or the mud wall swell because the 
beams of a beautiful sun shine upon it ? Gold in 
3^our bags may make you great, but it is grace in 
your hearts which makes you good. Goodness 
without greatness shall be esteemed when great- 
ness without goodness shall be confounded. Proud 
sinners are the fittest companions for proud devils. 
The more prosperity man enjoys the more humility 
God enjoins. 

Nature teaches us that those trees bend the most 
freely which bear the most fully. As a proud 
heart loves none but itself, so it is beloved by none 
but itself. Who would attempt to gain those pin- 
nacles that none have ascended without fears or 
descended without falls ? It is recorded of Timo- 
theus the Athenian, that when he was giving an 
account of his government and successes to the 
state, he frequently asserted, with a vaunting air, 
"In this, fortune had no hand. 3 ' After this he 
never prospered, was quickly after disgraced, and 
died in exile. When men, through daring pride, 
cast off all allegiance to God, he in just derision 
casts them out from the inheritance of God. If 
we refuse to acknowledge him he will refuse to 
acknowledge us. 

It is reported of Philip of Macedon, that after 
having obtained the honor of an unexpected vie- 



95 

tory he was observed to look very much dejected ; 
on being asked the reason, he replied, "that the 
honors which were obtained by the sword might 
also be lost by the sword." Was he pensive when 
Providence crowned him with victory ; and shall 
we be vainly elated when Providence makes us 
wealthy 7 The Supreme Majesty cannot suffer us 
to glory in any but himself; therefore, when we 
glory in our pride, he stains the pride of our glory. 
It is a difficult matter to be grand in the estimation 
of others and base in our own. The face of no 
mere man ever shone so illustriously as that of the 
ancient Jewish lawgiver's, and yet it is affirmed 
jthat no man's heart was ever so meek; but most 
men resemble chameleons, which no sooner take in 
the air than they begin to swell. 

As that is a rebellious heart in which sin is 
allowed to reign, so that is not a very enlarged 
heart which the world can fill. Alas ! what will it 
profit us to sail before the pleasing gales of pros- 
perity, if we be afterwards overset by the gusts of 
vanity ? Your bags of gold should be ballast in 
your vessel to keep her always steady, instead of 
being topsails to your masts to make your ves- 
sel giddy. Give me that distinguished person 
who is rather pressed down under the weight 
of all his honors, than puffed up with the blasts 
thereof. 

It has been observed by those who are experi- 
enced in the sport of angling, that the smallest 
fishes bite the fastest. Oh, how few great men do 
we find so much as nibbling at the gospel hook ! 
" I will get me unto the great men, and will speak 



96 

unto them, for they have known the way of the 
Lord, and the judgment of their God ; but these 
have altogether broken the yoke and burst the 
bonds." Mercy favored them, but gratitude could 
not bind them. 

When King James' tutor lay upon his expiring 
pillow, his majesty sent to inquire how he did. 
" Go tell," saith he, "my royal sovereign that I am 
going where few kings go." The tree of life is 
not often planted in a terrestrial paradise. Under 
the Levitical law the lamb and the dove were 
offered in sacrifice, when the lion and the eagle were 
rejected. The shining diamond of a great estate 
may frequently be found upon an unsound and 
idolatrous heart. Prosperity is not to be deemed 
the greatest security. The lofty unbending cedar 
is more exposed to the injurious blast than the 
lowly shrub. The little pinnace rides safely 
along the shore, while the gallant ship advancing 
is wrecked. Those sheep which have the most 
wool are generally the soonest fleeced. Poverty is 
its own defence against robbery. A fawning world 
is worse than a frowning world. Who would 
shake those trees upon which there is no fruit? 

Many think to be saved because they are poor, 
and others because they are rich ; but these are all 
capitally mistaken ; for numbers of the former are 
not saved, and not many of the latter will be saved. 
" Not many wise men after the flesh, not many 
mighty, not many noble, are called." You nobles, 
I call you to see that not many nobles are called. 
He does not say not any, but not many. Blessed be 
God, we can say of them, as Luther once said of 



97 

Elizabeth, a pious queen of Denmark, "Christ 
will sometimes carry a queen to heaven." Rich 
men are choice dishes at God's table. 

Some people, when their estates are low, their 
hearts are high ; but true believers, when their 
estates are high, their hearts are low. What an 
excellent commendation does the beloved Prophet 
of Israel give the beloved Prince of Israel ! "Then 
went King David in and sat before the Lord, and 
said, Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my 
house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?" The 
weighty clusters of mercy completely bowed the 
branches of this royal vine. He does not contend 
with God for mercies denied, but he adores him for 
mercies granted. The eye of his humility views 
the grace of God, and then he is thankful ; it also 
views the folly of his heart, and this makes him 
mournful. 

Theodosius deemed it more honorable to be a 
member of the church than a monarch of the 
world, and so did King David. Ah, why wilt thou 
set thy heart upon that which is not ? For every- 
thing will come to nothing, but he who formed all 
things out of nothing. Many think it must go 
well with them hereafter because it is so well with 
them here ; as if silver and gold, which came out 
of the bowels of the earth, would carry them to 
the bosom of the God of heaven. Though the 
gates of heaven will open to admit the heaven- 
born soul, yet they are not unlocked with a golden 
key. A man may bask in the beams of prosperity 
now, and yet bum in the flames of eternity with 
infidels hereafter. 
9 



98 

The worm of pride is always injurious to celes- 
tial plants ; either this vice must be shut out on 
earth, or we shall be shut out of heaven. The 
bowing reed of an humble mind shall be preserved 
entire, while the sturdy oak of a proud, lofty mind 
shall be broken to shivers. A proud person thinks 
everything too much that is done by him, and 
everything too little that is done for him. God is 
as far from pleasing him with his gifts as he is 
from pleasing God with his works. Remember 
what the observant Prophet Habakkuk declares, 
" Behold, his soul which is lifted up in him is not 
upright.' 7 Observe, he introduces the subject with 
a behold, he that lifts up himself is not lifted up 
of God. I will not say a good man is never proud, 
but I will say a proud man is never good. 

10. Another singular action of a sanctified 
Christian is, to seek to be better inioardly in his sub- 
stance than outwardly in appearance. 

This is a business which no hypocrite chooses 
to be employed in ; he prefers varnish to massy 
gold. It little concerns him how much the house 
be infected with the leprosy, so it be but outwardly 
fair to human inspection. He forgets that " he is 
not a Jew who is one outwardly, neither is that 
circumcision which is outward in the flesh ; but 
he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision 
is that of the heart in the spirit." 

Formality frequently takes its dwelling near the 
chambers of integrity, and so assumes its name ; 
the soul not suspecting that hell should make so 
near an approach to heaven. A rotten post, though 
covered with gold, is more fit to be burned in the 



99 

fire than for the building of a fabric. Where 
there is a pure conscience there will be a pure con- 
versation. The dial of our faces does not infalli- 
bly show the time of day in our hearts. The 
humblest looks may enamel the former, while 
unbounded pride governs the latter. Unclean 
spirits may inhabit the chamber when they look 
not out of the window. 

A hypocrite may be both the fairest and the 
foulest creature in the world ; he may be fairest 
outwardly in the eyes of man, and foulest inwardly 
in the sight of God. How commonly do such 
unclean swans cover their black flesh with their 
white feathers? Though such wear the mantle 
of Samuel, they should bear the name of Satan. 

Many appear righteous who are only righteous 
in appearance ; but while they are deceiving others 
with the false shows of holiness, they are also 
deceiving themselves with the false hopes of hap- 
piness. The hypocrite would not willingly seem 
evil, and yet would inwardly be so ; he would fain 
be accounted good, and yet would not be so. O 
man, either appear what you are, or be what you 
appear. What will the form of godliness do for 
you if you deny the power thereof? Own this, or 
God will disown thee. Those who have the power 
of godliness cannot deny the. form, while those 
who have the form may deny the power. 

Hypocrites resemble looking-glasses, which pre- 
sent the faces that are not in them. Oh, how 
desirous are men to put the fairest gloves upon the 
foulest hands, and the finest paint upon the rot- 
tenest posts ! To counterfeit the coin of heaven is 



LOI 



100 

to commit treason against the King of heaven. 
Who would spread a curious cloth upon a dusty- 
table ? 

If a mariner set sail in an unsound bottom he 
may reasonably expect to lose his voyage. No 
wise virgin would carry a lamp without light. O, 
professor ! either get the latter or part with the for- 
mer. None are so black in the eyes of the Deity 
as those who paint for spiritual beauty. 

Some persons are better in show than in sub- 
stance, but not so with true Christians ; they are 
not like painted tombs which inclose decayed 
bones. "The king's daughter is all glorious 
within." She is all glorious within, though within 
is not all her glory. That is a sad charge which 
the God of truth brings against certain false pro- 
fessors : "I know the blasphemy of them who say 
they are Jews and are not, but are the synagogue 
of Satan." A false friend is worse than an open 
enemy. A painted harlot is less dangerous than a 
painted hypocrite. A treacherous Judas is more 
abhorred of God than a bloody Pilate. 

Christians, remember the sheep's clothing will 
soon be stripped from the wolf's back. The velvet 
plaster of profession shall not always conceal the 
offensive ulcer of corruption. Neither the ship of 
formality or hypocrisy will carry one person to the 
harbor of felicity. The blazing lamps of foolish 
virgins may light them to the bridegroom's gate, 
but not into his chamber. Either get the nature 
of Christ within you, or take not the honors of 
Christians upon you. 

Oh, what vanity is it to lop off the boughs and 



101 

leave the roots, which can soon send forth more; or 
to empty the cistern and leave the fountain run- 
ning, which can soon fill it again ! Such may- 
swim in the water of the visible church, but when 
the net is drawn to shore they must be thrown 
away as bad fishes. Though the tares and the 
wheat may grow in the field together, yet they 
will not be housed in the granary together. 

How pious and devout did the Pharisees appear 
before men ? They concluded them to be the only 
saints upon earth. They judged the inward man 
by the outward ; but not so with the heart-search- 
ing God; for " He said unto them, Ye are they 
which justify yourselves before men, but God 
knoweth your hearts ; for that which is highly 
esteemed among men is abomination in the sight 
of God.' 5 That sepulchre is not always the repos- 
itory of gold which is outwardly garnished. Herod 
was a god in the esteem of the people, when he 
was but a fiend in the sight of the Lord ; they 
adored him, he destroyed him. 

A man's conversation may be civilized when his 
heart is not evangelized. There is as much differ- 
ence between nature restrained and nature renewed 
as between the glimmering of a glow-worm and 
the splendor of the noon-day sun. A bad man is 
certainly worst when he is seemingly best. We 
must not account every one a soldier who swag- 
gers with a sword. A rusty scimitar may fre- 
quently be found in a highly trimmed scabbard. 
What is it to have our hands as white as snow if 
our hearts be as black as the bottomless pit ? Such 
9* 



102 

professors resemble curious bubbles, smooth and 
clear without, yet only filled with air. 

A man may wear the Saviour's livery, and yet 
be busied in Satan's drudgery. The skin of an 
apple may be fair, when it is rotten at the core. 
Though all gold may glitter, yet all is not gold 
that glitters. The errantest hypocrite may have 
the color of gold, but not the value of gold. What 
comparison is there between the gilt tun filled with 
air and the homely vessel filled with generous 
wine? 

Very few deceivers duly weigh that notable say- 
ing of the wise man: "He that walketh uprightly 
walketh surely ; but he that perverteth his ways 
shall be known." He that promises to cover the 
Christian's infirmities threatens also to disclose the 
anti-Christian's impieties. Well would it be for 
such to remember that arch-traitor Judas, who 
purchased nothing by his deceitful dealings but a 
halter for his body, in which he was hanged, and a 
fire for his soul, in which he is burning. 

11. Another singular action of a sanctified 
Christian is, to be more afflicted at the distresses of 
the church than affected at his oivn happiness. 

When we suffer not from the enemies of Christ 
by persecution, we should then suffer for the friends 
of Christ by compassion. Let not Zion's sons be 
rejoicing while their mother is mourning. "Are 
not her breaches like the sea, and there is none to 
heal her?" If her breaches be irreparable our 
hearts should be inconsolable. It is observed of 
doves, that if one be sick the other laments ; yea, 
the savage beasts will mourn over the afflicted 



103 

creatures of their own species, and shall that be 
lost among men which is found among beasts? 

Christianity never was designed to strip men of 
humanity. Reader, can you see the church bleed- 
ing, and never ask balm for her wounds ? How 
can you rejoice when she stands, if you do not 
mourn when she f^lls ? It rejoiced impious Nero 
to see the Christians burning, but it should wound 
as to hear of it. The cruel massacre of the 
Tudean infants was a pleasant sight to bloody 
Herod. 

We may justly prefer that charge against many 
nominal Christians which God did against nominal 
Israel: "They drink wine in bowls and anoint 
themselves with the chief ointment, but they are 
not grieved for the affliction of Joseph." 

Many can weep a flood for the groans of a child, 
but they cannot drop a tear for the groans of the 
church. Their love to relations transcends their 
love to religion. He that has property on board 
the church's ship cannot but be alarmed at every 
storm. I conclude that to be a silver eye in the 
spiritual head, and a wooden leg in the spiritual 
body, that is insensible to all its sorrows. That 
man who has no compassion for afflicted Chris- 
tians may rest persuaded that God will have no 
compassion on him. His language will be, " De- 
part, ye cursed ; for I was hungry, and ye fed me 
not ; sick and in prison, and ye visited me not.' 5 

The enemies of the church may toss her as 
waves, but they shall not split her as rocks. She 
may be dipped in water as a feather, but shall not 
sink therein as lead. He that is a well of water 



104 

within her, to keep her from fainting, will also 
prove a wall of fire about her, to preserve her from 
falling. Tried she may be, but destroyed she can- 
not be. Her foundation is the rock of ages, and 
her defence the everlasting arms. It is only such 
fabrics as are bottomed upon the sand that are 
overthrown by the wind. The adversaries of God's 
people will push at them as far as their horns will 
go, but when they have scoured them by persecu- 
tion as tarnished vessels, then God will throw such 
whisps into the fire. 

Many would rather see the church's expiration 
than her reformation ; it would afford them more 
pleasure to find her nullified than purified ; for 
they suppose that happiness increases in propor- 
tion as holiness decreases. Christian, when perse- 
cutors make long furrows upon the saint's back, 
then we should cast in the seed of sympathetic 
tears. Saul made the Saviour feel before he opened 
his commission to apprehend his members at 
Damascus. " Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou 
me?" Thus the head cries out in heaven, while 
the toe is trod upon on earth. 

Though Jesus Christ has altered his condition, 
yet he hath not changed his affection. Death took 
away his life for us, but not his love from us. He 
that washed away the blood of guilt from our 
hearts will soon wipe away those briny tears that 
disfigure our cheeks. He who paid so great a 
price for our redemption will not resign us into the 
hands of our cruel tormentors. " Comfort ye, 
comfort ye, my people, saith your God ; speak ye 
comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that 



105 

her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is 
pardoned." If the Father of mercies thus pro- 
claims pardon to returning prodigals, we may- 
expect soon to hear of music and rejoicing among 
all the heavenly harpers. 

When we see the church pledging her beloved 
in the cup of affliction, we should then drink to 
her in the cup of consolation. A heavy burden 
may easily be borne by the assistance of many 
shoulders. Some are like Gallio ; they care for 
none of those things : nay, when they should be 
sympathizers they are censurers. They conclude 
that the gold is not good because it is tried, and 
that the ground is naught because it is ploughed. 
They wound those with the arrows of reproach 
whom God has only corrected with the rod of 
reproof. 

It is dangerous to smite those with our tongues 
whom God has smitten with his hand. His right 
to correct is not ours. Because Christ suffered for 
transgressors many numbered him with transgres- 
sors; but that was to give him the sharpest vine- 
gar when they should have given him the sweetest 
wine. "Pour out thine indignation upon them, 
and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them." 
Why, David? "For they persecute them whom 
thou hast smitten, and they talk to the grief of 
those whom thou hast wounded." 

Sympathy is a debt we owe to sufferers. For 
Christians to be rejoicing when their brethren are 
weeping, is like putting silver lace upon a mourn- 
ing suit. Our own particular losses and distresses 
resemble the extinguishing of a candle, which 



106 

only occasions darkness in one room ; but the gen- 
eral distresses of the church are like the eclipsing 
of the sun, which overshadows the whole hemi- 
sphere. Pliny informs us of two goats meeting 
together on a narrow bridge, where neither of 
them could either proceed or recede; at last one 
of them lay down, that the other might go over 
him. How much of the man was there in those 
beasts, and how much of the beast is there in some 
men ! 

It is certainly better to be in the humble posture 
of a mourner than in the proud gesture of a 
scorner. The woman of Canaan could not rest 
while her daughter was restless : the torture of 
one was the torment of the other ; but a word from 
Jesus relieved them both. Sympathy renders a 
doleful state more joyful. Alexander refused water 
in a time of great scarcity because there was not 
enough for his whole army. 

It should be among Christians as among lute- 
strings, when one is touched the others tremble. 
Believers should neither be proud flesh nor dead 
flesh. Fellow members should ever have fellow 
feelings. Other men's woes are our warnings; 
their desolation should be our information. 

Jeremiah suffered not in his own person, being 
under the protection of the Divine Being ; but 
though he dwelt securely from the hand of mor- 
tality, yet he was filled wkh the bowels of sym- 
pathy. Though he wrote of the Jews' desola- 
tions, yet he named them Jeremiah's Lamenta- 
tions. 

12. Another singular action of a sanctified Chris- 



107 

tian is, to render the greatest good for the greatest 
evil. # 

Mariners look for a storm at sea when the wa- 
ters begin to utter a murmuring noise. Theodosius 
the emperor, being urged to execute one who had 
reviled him, answered, "So far from gratifying 
your wish, were it in my power, if he were dead, 
I would raise him to life again, rather than being 
alive, to put him to death." 

He makes a good market of bad commodities 
who with kindnesses overcomes injuries. For a 
man to conquer another's person, and be captivated 
by his own passions, is but to lose the palace of a 
prince to gain the cottage of a peasant. A spark 
of fire falling in the ocean expires immediately, 
but dropping upon combustibles burns furiously. 
God has bound every believer in gospel cords to 
his good behavior. 

A carnal man may love his friends, but it is a 
Christian man that loves his enemies. " But I say 
unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse 
you, do good to them that hate you, and pray 
for them that despitefully use you, and persecute 
you." He calls to patience who is patience itself, 
and he that gives the precept enforces it by his 
own example. It is unnatural to hate them that 
love us, and it is supernatural to love them that 
hate us. A sinner can do much evil, but he can 
suffer none ; a saint can suffer much evil, but he 
will do none. 

He that takes up fire to throw at his adversaries 
is in great danger of burning his own fingers. A 
gun ill charged, instead of hitting the mark, does 



108 

but recoil on him that discharges it. He who 
glories in wounding others will finally wound him- 
self. If injuries be our enemies' weapons, forgive- 
ness should be ours. How many have had their 
blood seen because they would not have their 
backs seen. Men's actions towards others are 
generally excused by others' actions towards them. 
There is a two-fold frenzy; that of the head, 
which deprives men of prudence, and that of the 
heart, which deprives them of their patience. To 
forget an injury is more than nature can promise, 
but to forgive it is what grace can perform. Pa- 
tience affords us a shield to defend ourselves ; but 
innocence denies us a sword to offend others. If 
ever you hope that your charity should live after 
you, then let resentment die before you. 

It is written in the law of Mahomet that God 
made angels of light and devils of flame. Sure I 
am that they are of hellish constitutions who play 
off the fire-works of contention. "Be ye angry 
and sin not." Anger should not be a burning coal 
from Satan's furnace, but a blazing coal from God's 
altar. It should resemble fire in straw, which is 
as easily quenched as suddenly kindled. He that 
would be angry and not sin must be angry at 
nothing but sin. " Let not the sun go down upon 
your wrath, neither give place to the devil." He 
that carries passions to bed with him will find the 
devil creep between the sheets; and why should 
we give place to him who crowds in so fast him- 
self? 

O man, shall thy life be mortal and thy wrath 
immortal ? Should we not give place to an offend- 



109 

ing brother rather than a designing murderer? 
How many are there who profess to forgive, but 
cannot forget an injury ! Such are like persons 
who sweep the chamber, but leave the dust behind 
the door. Whenever Ave grant our offending breth- 
ren a discharge, our hearts also should set their 
hands to the acquittance. 

We should not only break the teeth of malice by 
forgiveness, but pluck out its sting by forgetful- 
ness. To store our memories with a sense of inju- 
ries is to fill that chest with rusty iron which was 
made for refined gold. The pot of malice should 
not stand upon the fire till it boils over. Christian, 
can you expect better treatment in the world than 
he who was better than the world ? 

When Aristides, the Athenian general, sat to 
arbitrate a difference between two persons, one of 
them said, " This fellow accused thee at such a 
time." To whom Aristides answered, "I sit not 
to hear what he has done against me, but against 
thee." How should a Christian shine if a heathen 
give such a light? "If, therefore, thine enemy 
hunger, feed him ; if he thirst, give him drink ; for 
in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his 
head." Not the coals of vengeance to consume 
him, but the coals of kindness to soften him. 

Jesus was an intercessor both in his life and 
death; his dying breath was praying breath, and 
that not only for his sorrowful disciples, but for his 
enraged murderers also. "Father, forgive them, 
for they know not what they do." Thus he gave 
them the best wine for the bitterest gall. The 
Lord Jesus spreads a large table every day, and 
10 



110 

the major part who feed thereat are his enemies. 
" The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the 
leopard shall lie down with the kid ; and the calf 
and the young lion and the fatling together, and a 
little child shall lead them." The Lord Jesus can 
both tame the most cruel beast and quench the 
most raging lust. 

None but a patient Christ can make us patient 
Christians. As our passions were the cause of his, 
so his passion is the cure of ours. Reader, if you 
cannot forgive others, God will not forgive you. 
You have his own authority for this: "For if ye 
forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father 
will forgive you; but if ye forgive not men their 
trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father for- 
give your trespasses." In vain do we ask God to 
be pacified to us while we live at variance with 
others. How can we expect to have pounds remit- 
ted to us if pence are not remitted by us ? 

I have read of a person who imbrued his hands 
in his own blood because they were too short to 
reach his enemy's. Poor revenge ! How repug- 
nant was this to the apostolic advice: " Dearly 
beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give 
place unto wrath." This was the conduct of 
dying Stephen: " And he kneeled down and prayed 
with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their 
charge." Could living men do worse to a dying 
man, or a dying man pray better for living men ? 

To do evil for good is human corruption ; to do 
good for good is civil retribution ; but to do good 
for evil is Christian perfection. Though this be 



Ill 

not the grace of nature, yet it is the nature ot 
grace. 

When Shimei cursed David in his distress, 
Abishai was for an immediate retaliation. "Shali 
I take off the head of this dead dog, for why- 
should he curse my lord the king?" What was 
David's answer? "So let him curse, because the 
Lord hath said unto him, Curse David." He was 
so far from taking off his head that he does not 
even attempt to shut his mouth. The shoulders 
of charity are able to carry the burden of injury, 
without either being moved with violence or 
removed from patience. 

Though God suffer not his people to sin in 
avenging their enemies, yet he suffers not the sin 
of their enemies to go unavenged. " Vengeance is 
mine, I will repay, saith the Lord." " Anger rest- 
eth in the bosom of fools." Where there is the 
most indignation there is the least discretion. No 
men do more readily brook insults from others 
than such as have learned to despise themselves. 
Make not an enemy of your friend, by returning 
evil for good ; but make a friend of your enemy, 
by returning him good for evil. 

13. Another singular action of a sanctified Chris- 
tian is, to take those reproofs best which he needs 
most. 

It was the saying of a heathen, though no 
heathenish saying, " that he who would be good ; 
must either have a faithful friend to instruct him, 
or a watchful enemy to correct him." Should we 
murder a physician because he comes to cure us, 



112 

or like him worse because he would make us 
better? 

The flaming sword of reprehension is but to 
keep us from the forbidden fruit of transgression. 
"Let the righteous smite me, and it shall be a 
kindness ; and let him reprove me, it shall be an 
excellent oil, which shall not break my head." 
Let him smite me as with a hammer, for so the 
word signifies. A Boanerges is as necessary as a 
Barnabas. 

"Am I become your enemy because I. tell you 
the truth?' 5 Truth is not always relished where 
sin is nourished. Light is pleasant, yet it may be 
offensive to sore eyes. Honey is sweet, though it 
cause the wound to smart; but we must not 
neglect the actions of friends, for fear of drawing 
upon ourselves the suspicion of being enemies. It 
is better to lose the smiles of men than the souls 
of men. " Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy 
heart, nor suffer sin to lie upon him." He who 
loves jl garment hates the moths which fret it. 

"Rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee; but 
rebuke ascorner, and he will hate thee." Reproof 
slides from a scorner's breast as water from an 
oiled post. Instead of loving a man amidst all his 
injuries, he will hate him for all his civilities. 
Most people are like restive horses, which no 
sooner feel the rowel than they strike with their 
heels; or like bees, which no sooner are angered 
than they put out their stings. 

There is much discretion to be observed in 
reprehension ; a word will do more with some than 
a blow with others. A Venice glass is not to be 



113 

rubbed so hard as a brazen kettle. The tender 
reed is more easily bowed than the sturdy oak. 
Christ's warfare requires no carnal weapons. 
Dashing storms do but destroy the seed, while 
gentle showers nourish it. Chariots too furiously 
driven may be overturned by their own violence. 

How many are there who check passion with 
passion, and are very angry in reproving anger ! 
Thus, to lay one devil they raise another, and 
leave more work to be undone than they found to 
be done. Such a reproof of vice is a vice to be 
reproved. In reprehension we should always be- 
ware of carrying our teeth in our tongues, and of 
biting while we are speaking. A surgeon would 
not be justifiable in dismembering a body if he 
could effect a cure without it. 

" Brethren, if any man be overtaken in a fault, 
you that are spiritual restore such an one in the 
spirit of meekness." The word signifies to set 
him in joint again; and to set a dislocated bone 
requires the lady's hand — tenderness as well as 
skilfulness. Reprehension is not an act of butch- 
ery, but an act of surgery-. Take heed of blunt- 
ing the instrument by putting too keen an edge 
upon it. Mark the reason which the apostle 
assigns for gentle reproof: " Considering thyself, 
lest thou also be tempted." 

If thy neighbor's house be on fire, thine own 
may be in danger. We should be willing to lend 
mercy at one time, as we may have occasion to 
borrow it at another. We should do w r ith others' 
sins as we do with our own sores ; which, if a gentle 
scar will produce a sufficient discharge, we avoid 
10* 



114 

cutting and slashing. If ravenous birds can be 
frayed away by a look, we need not expend powder 
and shot. 

It is true, open sinners deserve open censures, 
but private admonitions will best suit private 
offences. While we seek to heal a wound in our 
brother's actions, we should be careful not to leave 
a scar upon his person. We give grains of allow- 
ance in all current coin. That is a choice friend 
who conceals our faults from the view of others, 
and yet discovers. them to our own. That medicine 
which rouses the evil humors of the body and does 
not carry them off, only leaves it in a worse con- 
dition than it found it. 

It must be lamented that many are as lost to the 
softest tongue of reproof, as the deaf adder is to 
the sweet voice of the charmer ; they are always 
administering the bitter pills of calumny for the 
sweet cordials of charity. Men love to be adored, 
yet hate to be reproved. But how can we praise 
what they do, when they are so far from doing 
what is worthy to be praised? 

How securely would David have slept if Nathan 
had not been sent to rouse him ! How far do 
many travel in the downward road for want of 
a wholesome friend to stop them in their journey ! 
Private admonition is rather a proof of benevo- 
lence than malevolence. It was the saying of 
Austin, when his hearers resented his frequent 
reproofs, u Change your conduct, and I will change 
my conversation. ;J The more a serpent is stirred, 
the more he gathers up his poison. 

Some are to reproof as tigers are to drums ; be- 



115 

cause they cannot stop them, they will tear their 
own flesh. Man is a cross creature, and cannot 
endure to be checked ; he would have a touch-me- 
not written upon himself; but who would chide 
the dog for barking when the thief is approaching? 
Sin is like a nettle, which stings when it is gently 
touched, but hurts not when it is roughly handled. 
Beloved, this rough hewing of reproof is but to 
square us for the celestial building. As for flatter- 
ers, they may be named the devil's upholsterers, 
who no sooner see men troubled at their lusts than 
they are for laying pillows under their elbows ; but 
let such know that their want of the fire of zeal 
will be punished with the fire of hell. He is an 
unskilful limner who paints deformities in the 
fairest colors. 

Reprehension should tread upon the heels of 
transgression. The plaster should be applied as 
soon as the wound is received. It is easier to 
extinguish a flaming torch than a burning house. 
Gentle medicine will serve for a recent distemper, 
but chronical diseases require powerful receipts. 

The sword of reproof should be drawn against 
the offence, and not against the offender. Man 
thinks this cup is not sufficiently bitter except he 
mingle it with his wormwood and gall. " But the 
wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of 
God." The severest sentences of the church are 
not mortal, but medicinal ; they are to raise the 
dead to life, and not to put the living to death. 

"Who knows how much the majesty of a reprover 
may tame the insolence of an offender ? " He that 
hates reproof is brutish." He is brutish like an 



116 

angry dog that snarls and bites while the festering 
thorn is being taken out of his foot, or like a 
vicious horse that strikes the groom while he is 
rubbing off the dirt. 

"If thy brother shall trespass against thee, go 
and tell him his fault between thee and him alone ; 
if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother." 
The spaniel loses the prey by barking at the game. 
The presence of a multitude makes a man take up 
an unjust defence rather than lie down under a 
just shame. It is better to censure a man in pri- 
vate than to spread his guilt by proclamation. 
How many do that in the market which they 
should do in the closet"! Sin is a miry depth; if 
we attempt to help others out, and do not, we sink 
them the deeper. Remember, tender lambs, though 
straying, must be gently reduced to the fold. 

14. Another singular action of a sanctified Chris- 
tian is, to take up every duty in point of perform- 
ance and lay it down in point of dependence. 

When the purest duties have been performed the 
purest mercies should be implored. Many have 
passed the rocks of gross sins who have suffered 
shipwreck upon the sands of self-righteousness. 
Some people live more upon their customs than 
they do upon Christ ; more upon the prayers they 
make to God than upon the God to whom they 
make their prayers. This is for the redeemed cap- 
tive to reverence the sword instead of the hand 
which wrought his rescue. 

The name of God, with a sling and a stone, will 
do more than Goliath with all his armor. Duties 
are but dry pits, though never so curiously 



117 

wrought, till Christ fill them. Reader, I would 
neither have you be idle in the means nor make an 
idol of the means. Though it be the mariner's 
duty to weigh his anchor and spread his sails, yet 
he cannot make his voyage until the winds blow. 
The pipes will yield no conveyance unless the 
springs yield their concurrence. 

What is hearing without Christ but like a cabi- 
net without a jewel ? or what is receiving without 
Christ but like a glass without a cordial? We 
can only ascend to heaven upon that ladder which 
was let down from heaven. The most diligent 
saint has been the most self-diffident saint. " And 
be found in him, not having on mine own right- 
eousness, which is of the law, but that which is 
through the faith of Christ, the righteousness 
which is of God by faith. 75 If you be found in 
your own righteousness, you will be lost by your 
own righteousness. That garment which was 
worn to shreds on Adam's back will never make a 
complete covering for mine. 

Duties may be good crutches to go upon, but 
they are bad Christs to lean upon. When Augus- 
tus Caesar desired the senate to join some person 
with him in the consulship, they replied, " they 
held it as a great dishonor to him to have any one 
joined with him who was so capable himself." It 
is the greatest disparagement that Christians can 
offer to Christ to put their services in equipage 
with his sufferings. The beggarly rags of the 
first Adam must never be put on with the princely 
robe of the second Adam. 

Man is a creature too much inclined to warm 



118 

himself by the sparks of his own fire, though he 
lie down in eternal flames for kindling them. 
Though Noah's dove made use of her wings, yet 
she found no rest but in the ark. Duties can 
never have too much of our diligence or too little 
of our confidence. "For he that is entered into 
rest hath ceased from his own works, as God did 
from his." A believer doth not perform good works 
to live, but he lives to perform good works. 

It was a haughty saying of one, Ccdurh gratis 
non accipiam ; "I will not accept of heaven gra- 
tis." But he shall have hell as a debt who will 
not take heaven as a gift. " For we are the cir- 
cumcision, who worship God in the spirit, rejoice 
in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the 
flesh." A true Christian stands at as great a dis- 
tance from trusting in the best of his services as 
the worst of his sins. He knows that the greatest 
part of his holiness will not make the least part of 
his justifying righteousness. He has unreservedly 
subscribed to that sentiment, " that when we have 
done all, we are unprofitable servants." 

When we have kept all the commandments, 
there is one commandment above all to be kept ; 
that is, " to trust not in an arm of flesh." In 
most of our works we are abominable sinners, and 
in the best of our works we are unprofitable ser- 
vants. Our doings are not like the crystal streams 
of a living fountain, but like the impure overflow- 
ings of an unruly torrent. "I will go in the 
strength of the Lord God, I will make mention of 
thy righteousness, even of thine only." You see, 
beloved, the righteousness of Christ is to be mag- 



119 

nified, when the righteousness of a Christian is 
not to be mentioned. 

It is hard for us to be nothing in ourselves 
amidst all our watchfulness, and to be all things in 
Christ amidst all our weakness. To undertake 
every duty, and yet to overlook every duty, is a 
lesson which none can learn but Christ's scholars. 
Our obedience at best is like good wine, which rel- 
ishes of a bad cask. The law of God will not take 
ninety-nine for a hundred. It will not accept the 
coin of our obedience either short in quantity or 
base in quality. The duty it exacts is as impossi- 
ble to be performed in this our fallen state as the 
penalty it inflicts is intolerable to be endured in our 
eternal state. 

We do not sail to glory in the salt sea of our 
own tears, but in the red sea of a Redeemer's 
blood. Crux Christi est clavis paradisi. " The 
cross of Christ is the key of paradise." We owe 
the life of our souls to the death of our Saviour. 
It was his going into the furnace which keeps us 
from the flames. Man lives by death; his natural 
life is preserved by the death of the creature, and 
his spiritual life by the death of the Redeemer. 

Moses must lead the children of Israel through 
the wilderness, but Joshua must conduct them into 
Canaan. While we are in the wilderness of this 
world we walk under the guidance of Moses, but 
when we enter the spiritual Canaan it must be 
under the leadings of Jesus. The same hand 
which shut the doors of hell to keep us out of per- 
dition has opened the gates of heaven to admit us 
to its eternal fruition. 



120 

Those who carry the vessel of hope to the pud- 
dle of their own merit will never draw the water 
of comfort from the fountain of God's mercy. 
Luther compares the law and gospel to earth and 
heaven ; we should walk in the earth of the law 
in point of obeying, and in the heaven of the gos- 
pel in point of believing. It was the saying of one, 
" that he would swim through a sea of brimstone 
so he might but arrive safe at heaven." Ah, how 
would natural men sing, if they could but soar to 
heaven upon the pinions of their own merit ! The 
sunbeams of justice will soon melt such weak and 
waxen wings. 

He that has no better righteousness than what 
is of his own providing shall meet with no higher 
happiness than what is of his own deserving. 
"For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, 
and going about to establish their own righteous- 
ness, have not submitted themselves to the right- 
eousness of God." If such people rest not from 
duty, then they rest in duty. They are determined 
to sail in their own bottom, though they sink in 
the ocean. I would that all such did but know 
that though good works are not destroyed by 
Christ, yet they must be denied for Christ. 

When a glass reflects the brightness of the sun 
there is but an acknowledgment of what was, not • 
an addition of what was not. A curious picture 
praises a beautiful face, not by communicating 
what it wants, but by presenting what it enjoys. 
As God has none the less for the mercy he gives, 
so he has none the more for the duty he receives. 
Man is such a debtor to God that he can never pay 



121 

his due to God ; yea, the more we pay him the 
more we owe him for our payments. 

It is Christ only who is the righteousness of God 
to man, and man to God. We are so far from 
paying the utmost farthing, that at the utmost we 
have not a farthing to pay. That man will be a 
miserable spectacle of vanity who stands upon the 
lame feet of his own ability. 

15. Another singular action of a sanctified Chris- 
tian is, to take up his contentment in God's appoint- 
ment. 

As many do the things which God dislikes, so 
they dislike the things which God does. If the 
children of Israel obtain no meat for their lusts, 
then they are weary of their lives. They are 
delighted with their burning corruptions, but are 
enraged with their trying conditions; which is 
nothing less than to be in love with their malady, 
and out of love with their remedy. They studied 
more how to gratify their humor than to satisfy 
their hunger. They complained of the shoe, but 
the disease lay in the foot. 

Those who think too highly of their own deserts 
will think too meanly of their estates. It is even 
the task of God to satisfy the desires of men. He 
can do everything, but they are not pleased with 
anything. 

There is no man but what has received more 
good than he has deserved, and done more evil 
than has been inflicted ; he should therefore be 
contented, though he see but little good ; and not 
discontented, though he suffer much evil. "Let 
your conversation be without covetousness, for he 
11 



122 

hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake 
thee." Where the seal of faith hath been set to 
the bond of truth, he who hath said it, will main- 
tain thee in the want of maintenance. 

When a wicked man's purse grows light his 
heart grows heavy. When he has something 
without to afflict him he has nothing within to 
support him. That well known scripture is un- 
known to him, "1 know how to be abased, and 
how to abound ; everywhere and in all things I am 
instructed, both to be full and to be hungry, both 
to abound and to suffer need." It is hard to carry 
a full cup without shedding, or to stand under a 
heavy load without bowing. It is difficult to walk 
in the clear day of prosperity without wandering, 
or in the dark night' of adversity without stum- 
bling; but from whatsoever point the wind blows, 
the skilful mariner knows how to meet it with his 
sails. 

Repenting is the act of Christian men, but re- 
pining is the act of carnal men. Though their 
estates be like a fruitful paradise, yet their hearts 
are like a barren wilderness. Such people are 
like spiders which suck poison out of the sweetest 
flowers; and by an infernal chemistry extract 
dross from the purest gold. 

Outward prosperity cannot create inward tran- 
quillity. Hearts-ease is a flower that never grew 
in the world's garden. The ground of a wicked 
man's trouble is not because he has not enough 
of the creature, but because he cannot find enough 
in the creature. His possession is great enough, 
but his disposition is not good enough. Some 



123 

are satisfied under the hand of God because they 
are not sensible of the hand of God. They never 
fret because they never feel. 

We are not to be troubled that we have no more 
from God, but we are to be troubled that we do 
no more for God. Christians, if the Lord be well 
pleased with your persons, should not you be well 
pleased with your conditions? There is more 
reason that you should be pleased with them than 
that he should be pleased with you. Believers 
should be like sheep, which change their pastures 
at the will of the shepherd ; or like vessels in a 
house, which stand to be filled or emptied at the 
pleasure of their owner. He that sails upon the 
sea of this world in his own bottom, will sink at 
last into a bottomless ocean. Never were any 
their own carvers, but they were sure to cut their 
own fingers. 

A covetous man is fretful because he has not so 
much as he desires ; but a gracious man is thank- 
ful because he has more than he deserves. It is 
true I have not the sauce, but then I merit not the 
meat. I have not the lace, but then I deserve not 
the coat. I want that which may support my dig- 
nity, but I have that which supplies my necessity. 
"Having food and raiment, let us therewith be 
content. 77 Here is the flesh of the creature to fill 
us, and the fleece of the creature to cover us. 

It is reported of a woman who, being sick, was 
asked whether she was willing to live or die, she 
answered, " Which God pleases." "But," said one, 
"if God should refer it to you, which would you 
choose?" "Truly," replied she, "I would refer it 



124 

to him again." Thus that man obtains his will of 
God whose will is subjected to God. 

A contented heart is an even sea in the midst of 
all storms. It is like a tree in autumn, which secures 
its life when it has lost its leaves. When worthy- 
Mr. Hern lay upon his death-bed, his wife, with 
great concern, asked him what was to become of 
her and her large family; he answered, " Peace, 
(sweet heart,) that God who feeds the ravens, will 
not starve the Herns.'' If the child be jealous of 
his father's affection he will soon be dubious of his 
father's provision. 

Our most golden conditions in this life are set 
in brazen frames. There is no gathering a rose 
without a thorn till we come to Immanuel's land. 
If there were nothing but showers, we should con- 
clude the world would be drowned ; if nothing but 
sunshine, we should fear the earth would be 
burned. Our worldly comforts would be a sea to 
drown us, if our crosses were not a plank to save 
us. By the fairest gales a sinner may sail to 
destruction, and by the fiercest winds a saint may 
sail to glory. When our circumstances become 
necessitous, our corruptions become impetuous; 
they rage the more because stopped by the dam of 
poverty. If God withhold the hand of providence, 
we employ the tongue of insolence. We too 
frequently bite at the stone till we break our teeth. 
We murmur because we are in want, and there- 
fore want because we murmur. 

A skilful pilot knows what winds tend to blow 
us into our harbor. An unquiet mind makes but a 
slow recovery. Contentment is the best food to 



125 

preserve a sound man, and the best medicine to 
restore a sick man. It resembles the gilt on nau- 
seous pills, which makes a man take them without 
tasting their bitterness. Contentment will make a 
cottage look as fair as a palace. He is not a poor 
man that hath but little, but he is a poor man that 
wants much. In this sense the poorest are often 
the richest, and the richest the poorest. 

" Godliness with contentment is great gain.' 
This is too precious a seed to grow in every soil. 
Though every godly man may not always be 
contented, yet every truly contented man is godly. 
"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want." 
Such a scripture will bring us plenty in scarcity ; 
fulness out of emptiness. The water in a cloud 
soon ceases ; but the water of a fountain continues. 

As Seneca said to Polybius, "Never complain 
of thy hard fortune so long as Cassar is thy 
friend;" so say I to thee, Never complain of thy 
hard fortune, Christian, so long as Jesus is thy 
•friend. 

Let your condition be never so flourishing, it is 
a hell without him ; let it be never so fluctuating, 
it is a heaven with him. Can that man want 
anything who enjoys Christ? or can he be said 
to enjoy anything who is without Christ? Why 
should Hagar lament the loss of the water in her 
bottle, while there is a well so near ? 

16. Another singular action of a sanctified 
Christian is, to be more in love with the employ- 
ment of holiness than with the enjoyment of hap- 
piness. 

Thousands of professors prize the wages of 
11* 



126 

religion above its works, but a Christian will 
prize its works above its wages. Give me that 
singular preacher who prefers his labor to his 
lucre, and the flock he attends to the fleece he 
obtains. 

Some men serve God, that they may serve them- 
selves upon God. He loves not religion sincerely 
who does not love it superlatively. 

" Israel is an empty vine, he brings forth fruit 
unto himself." Empty and yet fruitful; fruitful 
and yet empty. Thus that fertility which springs 
up from the bitter roots of self has nothing but 
vacuity in the account of God. 

Such professors do not make gain stoop to godli- 
ness, but godliness to gain ; which is as if a man 
should fit his foot to the shoe, when he should fit 
the shoe to his foot. 

That tradesman is poor and needy who must 
have ready money for all he sells. In all the good 
a carnal man doth for God, he seeks himself more 
than God. The clock of his heart will stand still 
unless its wheels of profit be oiled. 

If the virgin should only give her hand in matri- 
mony for her bridegroom's riches, she would not 
espouse herself unto his person, but unto his por- 
tion. This were not properly to make a marriage 
with him, but a merchandise of him. Saint Aus- 
tin hath an excellent saying: " He loves not 
Christ at all who does not love Christ above all." 

" Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, 
but because ye did eat of the loaves and were 
filled." Christ was the object of their actions, but 
self was the end of their actions. They came to 



127 

Christ to serve their own turns, and when their 
turns were served then they turned away their 
service. They were cupboard disciples — more than 
men at their meat, but less than women at their 
work. When the loaves were gone, the disciples 
were gone ; when he left off feeding them, they 
left off following him. 

Reader, till you can love the naked truth you 
will never love to go naked for the truth. Most 
persons are mercenary in those works wherein 
they should be filial and free. They look more after 
the streams than upon the spring from whence 
they constantly run, and admire the beams more 
than the sun from whence they are emitted. The 
want of pardon is the only spring of a servile 
man's duty ; he plies his prayers, as sailors do 
their pumps, only in a storm, or when fearful of 
sinking. 

" And now, O Father, glorify thy Son, that thy 
Son also may glorify thee." Christ prayed for 
glory, more for the Father's sake, who bestowed 
it, than for his own sake, who received it. A true 
Christian not only desires grace that God may 
glorify him, but that he also may glorify God. 

Could many men find the mercies of God, they 
would never seek the God of mercies. Could they 
tell how to be well without him, they would never 
desire to come to him. God hath but little of their 
society, except when they can find no other com- 
pany. 

Worldlings, instead of looking upon godliness as 
their greatest gain, will look upon gain as their 
greatest godliness. They love religion, not for the 



128 

beauty existing in it, but for the dowry annexed to 
it. They are like the fox that follows the lion for 
the prey that is falling from him. If there be no 
honey in the pot such wasps will hover no longer 
about it 

Mark how the long-suffering God expostulates 
with self-seeking Israel: "When ye fasted and 
mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even 
those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me ? 
And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did 
not ye eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves?" 
In fasting and in feasting their eyes were not cast 
upon God, but upon themselves. They forgot not 
to eat when they were hungry, but they forgot to 
praise God when they were full. Their greedi- 
ness swallowed up all their thankfulness. 

Reader, remember that God will shut your 
duties out of heaven if they shut him out on earth. 
I have heard a pleasing account of a woman, who 
being met with fire in one hand and water in the 
other, was asked what she was going to do with 
them; she answered, "With this fire I am going 
to burn up all the joys of heaven, and with this 
water I am going to quench all the flames of hell ; 
that my services to my God might neither arise 
from the fear of punishment nor hopes of reward." 

The less emphasis you lay upon your own works, 
the more will God lay upon them. Those who are 
most righteous in themselves are least righteous 
to God. God hath three sorts of servants in the 
world: some are slaves, and serve him from a 
principle of fear; others are hirelings, and serve 



129 

him for the sake of wages ; and the last are sons, 
and serve him under the influence of love. 

Now a hireling will be a changeling. He that 
will not serve God except something be given him, 
would serve the devil if he would give him more. 
Any one shall have his works who will but aug- 
ment his wages. 

11 He had respect to the recompense of reward." 
This might be a good glass to look through, but it 
it is a bad object to look to. The poets report, 
that many who at first paid their suits to the 
famous Penelope were afterwards married to the 
maidens who attended her. The ass who carried 
the Egyptian goddess had many bare heads and 
bended knees before it, but they were all to the 
burden and none to the beast. Thus many are 
advocates for the enjoyment of happiness, and 
enemies to the employment of holiness, 

Demetrius cries up the goddess Diana ; yet it 
was not her temple, but her silver shrines, he so 
much adored. He was more in love with her 
wealth than with her worship. " Sirs, ye know 
that by this craft we have our wealth." If her 
temple had been demolished their trade would 
have been diminished. " Doth Job serve God for 
naught?" Yes, for Job served God when he had 
naught. He was as religious in his poverty as in 
his plenty. In this sense, that man who will not 
serve God for nothing, he is nothing in his services. 

Love trades not for home returns ; it amply pays 
itself in serving its beloved. It is reported of one, 
who being asked for whom he labored most, he 
answered, "For my friends." And being asked 



130 

again for whom he labored least, he answered, 
" For my friends." Love doth most, and yet 
thinks least of what it does. 

Hypocrites are more in love with the gold of the 
altar than with the God of the altar. " Woe unto 
you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye devour 
widows' houses, and for a pretence make long 
prayers; therefore ye shall receive the greater dam- 
nation." They painted their avarice in religious 
colors, and put the arms of Christ upon the devil, 
that iniquity might by that means be esteemed 
under the garb of religion. They fasted all the 
day, that they might feed upon the widows' houses 
at night. They hatched the birds of oppression 
in the nests of devotion. These spiders weaved 
the web of their own works to catch the flies of 
other men's wealth. 

The observation of Augustine is founded on too 
much truth: " There is often a vast difference 
between the face of the work and the heart of the 
workman." But a man influenced by the Lord in 
his services, though he may find self in them as 
an intruder, yet he cannot suffer self in them as a 
leader. 

A Christian is more in love with his present 
duty than he is with his future glory. St. Paul 
was contented to stay a while out of heaven, that 
he might be the instrument of bringing other souls 
into heaven. " To me, to live is Christ, and to 
die is gain." His life to them was most useful, 
but his death to himself was most profitable. By 
dying, he might have enjoyed his inheritance 



131 

sooner, but by living God made his usefulness 
greater. 

Were it possible to ptit those things asunder 
which God himself hath joined together, a Chris- 
tian would rather be holy without any happiness 
than happy without any holiness. 

Luther had this expression : "I had rather be 
in hell with Christ than in heaven without Christ." 
Indeed, hell itself would be a heaven if God were 
in it, and heaven would be a hell if God were from 
it. These are hard sayings to an uncircumcised 
ear, but the real choice of every renewed heart. 

A gracious man makes this request for his soul : . 
M Lord, let me rather have a gracious heart than a 
great estate ; let me rather be pious without pros- 
perity than prosperous without piety." Though 
he may love many things beside religion, yet he 
would not love anything above religion. 

The earth is our work-house, but heaven is our 
store-house. This is a place to run in, and that 
is a place to rest in. 

17. Another singular action of a sanctified Chris- 
tian is, to be more employed in searching his own 
heart than he is in censuring other men's states. 

Those bishops are too busily employed who lord 
it over another man's diocese. We are to allow 
believers for their failings, though we are not to 
allow them in their failings. " Be thou diligent to 
know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy 
herds." It is a matter of greater moment to know 
the state of our hearts than the state of our flocks. 

Censorious men commonly take up magnifying 
glasses to look at other persons' imperfections, and 



132 

diminishing glasses to look at their own enormi- 
ties. 

Plato entertaining a few friends at an elegantly- 
spread table, Diogenes, a famous cynic philosopher, 
coming in at the same time, trampled upon it, say- 
ing, "I trample upon the pride of Plato." To 
whom Plato immediately replied, " Yea, but with 
a greater pride in Diogenes. ' ; 

They are fittest to find fault in whom there is 
no fault to be found. There is no removing blots 
from the paper, by laying upon them a blurred 
finger. " Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam 
out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly 
to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye." 
Reader, what do you get by throwing stones at your 
enemy's windows, while your own children look 
out at the casements? He that blows into a heap 
of dust is in danger of putting out his own eyes. 

Reader, are there not the same lusts lodging in 
your heart that are reigning in other men's lives'? 
The reason why there is so little self-condemna- 
tion is because there is so little self-examination. 
For want of this, many persons are like travel- 
lers, skilled in other countries, but ignorant of their 
own. 

As it is an evidence that those tradesmen are 
embarrassed in their estates who are afraid to look 
into their books, so it is plain th^t there is some- 
thing wrong within among all those who are afraid 
to look within. The trial of ourselves is the ready 
road to the knowledge of ourselves. He that buys 
a jewel in a case deserves to be cozened with a 
Bristol stone. 



133 

Reader, would you see God? then cast your 
eyes upwards: would you see yourself ? then cast 
your eyes inward. Contemplation is a perspective 
glass to see our Saviour in ; but examination is a 
looking-glass to view ourselves in. Are we then in 
the narrow way that leads to life, or in the broad 
way that leads to death ? Are we Christ's bride, or 
Satan's harlots ? Are our spirits chairs for vice to 
sit on, or thrones for grace to rule in ? 

Nero thought no person chast^, because he was. 
so unchaste himself. Such as are troubled with 
the jaundice see all things yellow. Those who 
are most religious are least censorious. " Who art 
thou that judgest another man's servant?" Those 
who are fellow-creatures with men should not be 
fellow-judges with God. 

Reader, why will you search another man's 
wound while your own is bleeding ? Take heed 
that your own vesture be not full of dust when 
you are brushing your neighbor's. Complain not 
of dirty streets when heaps lie at your own doors. 
Many people are no longer well than while they are 
holding their fingers upon another person's sores ; 
such are no better in their conduct than crows, 
which prey only upon carrion. "But let every 
man prove his own work, and then shall he have 
rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another." 

For want of self-examination, men have their 
accounts to cast up, when they should have them 
to deliver up. They have their evidences of grace to 
seek when they should have them to show. They 
lie down with such hopes in their beds of rest, with 
which they dare not lie down in their bed of dust. 
12 



134 

Conversion begins in consideration. The hasty- 
shower falls fastest, but the soft snow sinks the 
deepest. 

As that mariner who is inattentive to his helm 
is in danger of wrecking his vessel, so he who 
knows not himself is likely to lose himself. " Ex- 
amine yourselves whether ye be in the faith." If 
your heart be not the cabinet of such a jewel, your 
head will never be graced with a diadem in glory. 

If you must needs be a judge, then pray sit 
upon your own bench. I shall ever esteem such 
to be but religious lepers who care not for Scrip- 
ture looking-glasses. He that never cries out, 
" Woe is me, for I am undone," will never hear 
Christ say, "Go in peace." Self-examination is the 
beaten path to perfection ; it is like fire, which not 
only tries the gold, but purifies it also. 

The heathens tell us that Nosce teipsnm, "Know 
thyself," was an oracle that came down from hea- 
ven. Sure I am it is this oracle that will lead us 
to the God of heaven. The sight of yourself in 
grace will bring you to the sight of God in glory. 
The plague of the body is not every man's plague, 
but the plague of the soul is. If the latter were 
known more, the former would be feared less; 
though there may be a more pleasant, yet there is not 
a more profitable sight. Till you know how deep 
the pit is into which you are fallen, you will never 
properly praise that hand which raises you out of it. 

The bottom of our diseases lies in not searching 
our diseases to the bottom. So we have but some 
rags to cover our nakedness, we then wickedly 
despise the Saviour's righteousness. 



135 

He that trusts his own heart is a fool, and yet 
such fools are we as to trust our own hearts. The 
Lord searches all hearts by his omnisciency, but 
he searches his people's hearts by the eye of his 
mercy. If a man would know whether the sun 
shines, it is better to view its beams on the pave- 
ment than its body jn the firmament. The read- 
iest way to know whether you are in Christ is to 
know whether Christ be in you ; for the fruit on 
the tree is more visible than the root of the tree. 

18. Another singular action of a sanctified Chris- 
tian is, to set out for God at our beginning, and to 
hold out with' God unto the end. 

First, to set out for God at our beginning. " Re- 
member now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, 
while the evil days come not, nor the years draw 
nigh when thou shalt say I have no pleasure in 
them." In the distillation of strong waters the 
first drawn is fullest of spirits. " The first of the 
first-fruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the 
house of the Lord thy God." God prizes a Chris- 
tian in the bud, and delights in the blossoms of 
youth above the sheddings of old age. 

Is it not a pity that those plants should be found 
in Egypt that will thrive so well in Canaan ? 

Naturalists inform us that the most orient pearls 
are generated of the morning dew. Had any of 
the children of Israel stayed to pass through the 
Red sea with the Egyptians, they would probably 
have perished with them. That field is full of the 
richest corn which is cleansed from its noxious 
weeds in the spring. 

How pleasant is it to see the thousands of Israel 



136 

seeking the heavenly manna in the morning of 
their lives. Is it not better to cry for mercy on 
earth with the publican than to call for water in 
hell with Dives? To discover grace in an old 
sinner is well, but to view it in vigorous youth is 
better. All the beasts of sacrifice were offered to 
God in their prime. Jesus was carried in triumph 
upon a colt, the foal of an ass. 

No music could ever equalize the heaven-born 
cries of new-born babes. When the snow-drops of 
youth appear in the garden of the church, it evinces 
that there is a glorious summer approaching. 

If youth be sick of the will-nots, old age is in 
danger of dying of the shall-nots. It is hard to 
cast off the devil's yoke when we have worn it 
long upon our necks. "Can a man be born again 
when he is old?" Grace seldom grafts upon such 
withered stocks. An old sinner is nearer to the 
second death than he is to the second birth. It is 
more likely to see him taken out of the flesh than 
the flesh taken out of him. His body is nearer to 
corruption than his soul is to salvation. 

Where the enemy is the strongest there the 
victory is the hardest. Usually where the devil 
pleads antiquity he keeps propriety. As there are 
none so old as that they should despair of mercy, 
so there are none so young as that they should pre- 
sume on mercy. If God's to-day be too soon for 
thy repentance, thy to-morrow may be too late for 
his acceptance. Mercy's clock does not always 
strike at our beck. The longer poison stays in 
the stomach, so much the more dangerous are its 
effects. O how amiable are the golden apples of 



137 

grace in the silver pictures of blooming youth ! 
God prizes a young friend, but punishes an old 
enemy. Old sinners are much like old serpents, 
the fullest of poison. 

It is singularly pleasant to view the Ancient of 
Days in infants ill days, and to see green pieces of 
timber being squared for the celestial building. 
Blessed are those in whom grace is in its prosper- 
ity while their nature is in its minority. " I have 
more understanding than my teachers." His youth 
was wiser than their age. His dawning was 
brighter than their noon-tide; and this was the 
more admirable, because it was in his youth ; for 
when our lives are the most vigorous, our lusts 
are the most boisterous. 

You teach a cur while he is a whelp, and break 
a horse while he is a colt. A plentiful harvest is 
the issue of an early seed-time. 

Young reader, remember that your youthful sins 
lay a foundation for aged sorrows. You have but 
one arrow to shoot at the mark, and if that be shot 
at random God may never put another into your 
bow. 

"I am Alpha and Omega; the beginning and 
the ending; the first and the last." He that is 
the first and the last should be served from the 
first to the last. You can never come too soon to 
him who is your beginning, and you can never stay 
too long with him who is your ending. The 
flower of life is of Christ's setting, and shall it be 
of the devil's cropping? 

But what is setting out, without holding out ? 
Mutability is at best but the badge of infirmity. 
12* 



138 

It can only be those trees which are unsound at 
their roots that cease from putting forth leaves in 
their season. Those who at present are inwardly 
corrupt will in futurity be openly profane. False 
grace is always declining until it be wholly lost; 
but true grace goes from a morning's dawn unto a 
meridian splendor. The wool on the sheep's back, 
if it be shorn, will grow again ; but the wool on 
the sheep's skin, clip that, and there will come no 
more in its room. 

Nature teaches us that there is nothing perma- 
nent that is violent. A stone that is mounted up- 
wards, when it loses its impress, sinks downwards. 
It is just to be cast off from God for casting off the 
ways and work of God. A finger divorced from 
the hand receives no influence from the head. He 
that deserts his colors deserves to be cashiered the 
camp. 

Many have gone from one religion unto all, till 
at last they are come from all religions unto none. 
Every variation from unity is but a progression 
towards nullity. "Be thou faithful unto death, 
and I will give thee a crown of life." He hath a 
crown for the runner, but a curse for the runaway. 
God accounts not himself served at all if he be not 
always served. It is not enough to begin our 
course well, unless it be crowned with perse- 
verance. 

We live in the fall of the leaf; divers trees did 
put forth fair blossoms, but their flattering spring 
is turned into an unfruitful winter, and their clear 
mornings have been overcast with the thickest 
clouds. The corn which promised a large harvest 



139 

in the blade of profession is blasted in the ear. 
The light remains no longer than while the sun 
shines. When God ceases to be gracious man 
ceases to be righteous.- 

The flowers of paradise would quickly wither 
on earth if they were not watered with drops from 
heaven. How have the mighty fallen when the 
Almighty hath not stood by them ! The devil 
would soon put out our candles, if Christ did not 
carry them in his lantern. "Be not weary in 
well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we 
faint not." To see a ship sink in the harbor of 
profession is more grievous than if it had perished 
in the open sea of profaneness. 

There goes the same power to strengthen a saint 
as to quicken a sinner. He who sets us up and 
makes us holy must keep us up and make us 
steady. How many professors have seemed to be 
just ready to cast an eternal anchor, when a con- 
trary wind has drove them to sea, and they have 
perished forever! "O Ephraim, what shall I do 
unto thee; and Judah, what shall I do unto thee?" 
Why, what is the matter? "Your goodness is as 
a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth 
away." 

Some have beat Jehu's march; they have driven 
furiously in religion, but within a few years they 
have knocked off their chariot wheels. After they 
have lifted up their hands to God, they have lifted 
up their heels against him. That man's beginning 
was in hypocrisy, whose ending is in apostasy. 
Reader, you look for happiness as long as God 
hath a being in heaven, and God looks for holiness 



140 

as long as you have a being on earth. u He that 
endures to the end shall be saved." 

" If any man draw back, my soul shall have no 
pleasure in him." He that draws back from his 
profession on earth shall be kept back from any 
possession in heaven. He that departs in the faith 
shall be saved, but he that departs from the faith 
shall be damned. 

That mariner has no praise who sinks his ship 
before he comes to the harbor ; that soldier obtains 
no glory who lays down his arms in the heat of the 
battle. Some say that the chrysolite, which is of 
a golden color in the morning, loses its splendor 
before the evening ; such are the glittering shows 
of hypocrites. Though fiery meteors fall to the 
earth, yet fixed stars remain in heaven. 

When once that fire which is laid on God's altar 
is kindled, it shall no more be quenched. Grace 
may be shaken in the soul, but it cannot be shaken 
out of the soul. It may be a bruised reed, but it 
shall never be a broken reed. 

Christ is more tender of his body mystical than 
he was of his body natural. Though a believer 
may fall foully, yet he shall never fall finally. The 
gates of hell shall not prevail against the heirs of 
heaven. 

The fiery darts of the devil, which in themselves 
are intentionally mortal, shall be to saints eventu- 
ally medicinal ; these bees may sting him, but 
their venom shall not destroy hiify His light may 
be eclipsed for a time, but the sun will break forth 
again. 

Under the law, the Lord had his evening as well 



141 

as his morning sacrifice. "No man that puts his 
hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the 
kingdom of God." Our labors are never fulfilled 
till our days are fulfilled. There is nothing con- 
stant but what is pleasant. Though a saint may 
sometimes be weary in doing the work of the 
Lord, yet he is at no time weary of doing the work 
of the Lord. There may be a suspension of the 
operation of grace, but there cannot be a destruc- 
tion of the being of grace. This babe may lie 
upon a sick-bed, but it shall never lie upon a 
death-bed. 

Christ is styled the finisher of our faith, as well 
as the author of our faith. There is as much 
necessity for the spirit to keep up our graces, as 
there is to bring forth our graces. 

Indifference in religion is the first step to apos- 
tasy from religion. Though Christians be not 
kept altogether from falling, yet they are kept 
from falling altogether. They may show an indif- 
ference toward Christ for a time, but they shall 
not depart from Christ forever. The trees of 
righteousness may have their autumn, but they 
shall also have their spring. There is never so 
low an ebb but there is also as high a tide. 

Christians are *like crocodiles, which grow till 
they die ; or like the moon, which increases in her 
beauty till she is at the full. They have no desire 
of putting off the robes of purity while they are 
on this side eternity. They wish to hold the 
sword of religion in their hands till God sets the 
crown of glory upon their heads. 

Professing reader, if the service of God be not 



142 

the way of safety to you, why do you set forth in 
it; but if it be, why do you shrink back from it? 
Usually they who ride fastest at the beginning 
of their journey are the first who talk of halting on 
the road. See what a sparkling diamond there is 
set in the apostle's crown; "I have fought a good 
fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the 
faith ; henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown 
of glory." Paul the warrior was Paul the con- 
queror, and Paul the conqueror was Paul the 
crowned. 

Jesus Christ is never a father to abortive chil- 
dren. Where he gives strength to conceive he 
gives strength to bring forth. He turns the bruised 
reed into a brazen pillar, and the smoking flax into 
a prevailing flame. 

19. Another singular action of a sanctified Chris- 
tian is, to take all the shame of his sins unto him- 
self \ and to give all the glory of his services unto 
Christ. 

Many people take all the glory of their services 
to themselves, and lay all the share of their sins on 
him ; as if he who died on earth to redeem us from 
them should live in heaven to confirm us in them. 

The devil may flatter us, but he cannot force 
us ; he may tempt us to sin, but he cannot compel 
us to sin. He could never come off a conqueror 
were he not joined by our forces. The fire is 
his, but the tinder is ours. He could never 
enter into our houses if we did not set open our 
doors. 

Many complain for want of liberty, who thrust 
their feet in Satan's fetters. " The woman thou 



145 

gavest me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat." 
As if he had said, "I took that as a gift from her 
whom thou gavest as a gift to me." It is the 
worst of sins to charge God with our sins. They 
may receive their punishment from him, but they 
shall never receive their nourishment from him. 
He cannot be the unrighteous upholder of what he 
is the righteous avenger. 

O blasphemy, to charge that sun with darkness 
by which the heavens are enlightened, or that sea 
with a want of moisture by which the whole earth 
is watered ! Our impiety is as truly the offspring 
of our souls as our posterity is the issue of our 
bodies. " Every good and perfect gift cometh 
from above, from the Father of light, with whom 
is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." 
Whatsoever is truly good hath its origin in God. 
Now the same spring cannot send forth both sweet 
and bitter waters. It is a known rule, contraries 
destroy each other. 

Many have more leaves to cover their wicked- 
ness than they have garments to cover their naked- 
ness. They lay their heresy ' at the door of the 
sanctuary, and call their diabolical seductions 
evangelical revelations ; as if the Father of light 
could bring forth the issues of darkness. What is 
this but to set a crown of lead upon a head of 
gold? 

We can defile ourselves, but we cannot cleanse 
ourselves. The sheep can go astray alone, but can 
never return to the fold without the assistance of 
the shepherd. Till we taste the bitterness of our 
own misery we shall never relish the sweetness 



144 

of God's mercy. Till we see how foul our sins 
have made us we shall never pay our tribute of 
praise to Christ for washing us. 

If we were left to ourselves but for a moment, 
we should destroy ourselves in that moment. We 
are like glasses without a bottom, which are no 
sooner loosed than they fall. Many advance them- 
selves to depreciate Christ; but we should look 
upon ourselves as nothing, and Christ as every- 
thing. " Nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ 
liveth in me." Paul was willing to be esteemed a 
cipher 5 so that Christ might stand for a figure. 
Well may we abase ourselves for his advancement, 
who abased himself for our establishment. " Let 
Luther be accounted a devil, so Christ may be 
exalted as a God," said that flaming seraph of 
himself. 

u Without me ye can do nothing." The pen 
may as soon write without the hand that holds it 
as our hearts work except the Spirit move them. 
Not only the enjoyment of our talents is from God, 
but the improvement of them is from him. " Lord, 
thy pound hath gained ten pounds." It is not my 
pains but thy pound that hath done it. 

The children of God are like a clock, which 
soon stands still if it be not wound up. " Did not 
our hearts burn within us?" But how long did 
the flame last ? All the time he talked with them. 
When he gave over breathing on them their fuel 
gave over burning. 

Gracious hearts are like stars in the heavens, 
which shine not by their own splendor. He that 
takes the brick must give the straw to make it. 



145 

There is no water except he smite the rock, nor 
fire except he strike the flint. 

If he calls us to the work of angels he will sup- 
ply us with the strength of angels. "For when 
we were without strength, in due time Christ died 
for the ungodly." A Christless is also a strength- 
less soul. Man is indebted to God for what he 
has, but God is not beholden to man for what he 
does. "For of him, and through him, and to 
him, are all things ; to whom be glory forever, 
amen." The humble heart knows no foundation 
but God's grace, and the upright man knows no 
end but God's glory. 

Waters may rise as high as they fall. Whatso- 
ever action hath God for its author hath God for 
its centre. A circular line makes its ending where 
it had its beginning. 

Reader, take heed of turning a sacred privilege 
into a privy sacrilege. If God give that grace 
which is not due to you, will you deny the praise 
which is due to him ? 

The wicked make their end their God, but we 
make God our end. The firmament is made more 
glorious by one sun than by all the stars that stud 
the heavens. Thus Jesus Christ hath more glory 
given to him from one saint than from all the 
world beside. He takes more pleasure in their 
prayers, and is more honored by their praise. 

" Whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, 
do all to the glory of God." From the lowest act 
of nature to the highest act of grace, there is no 
argument for the pride of man, but every consider- 
ation for the praise of God. If he make our nature 
13 



146 

gracious, we should make his name glorious. He 
that would be fingering the honor of God is not 
worthy to receive the honor of a man. Ca3sar 
once said to his opponent, " Either I will be Caesar 
or nobody." So the Lord saith, Either I will be a 
great God or no God. That man disparages the 
beauty of the sun who sets it upon a level with 
the twinkling stars. 

The glory of God is the golden butt at which 
all the arrows of obedience are shot, otherwise 
they fall short of their mark. 

The body has two eyes, but the soul must have 
but one, and that so firmly fixed upon Christ as 
never once to glance beside him. A single eye is 
fittest for a single object. 

"When the people saw what Paul had done 
they lifted up their voices, saying, The gods are 
come down to us in the likeness of men." But 
do they take that glory to themselves which is idol- 
atrously given to them from others? No ; "Why 
do you these things ? we also are men of like pas- 
sions with you." As if they had said, "We are 
so far from possessing the glorious perfections of 
God, that we are clothed with all the weaknesses 
and passions of men." 

Ungodly Herod was not like Paul and Silas. 
The people gave a shout, saying, " It is the voice 
of a god, and not of a man." What the people 
gave foolishly he took fearlessly. " And immedi- 
ately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he 
gave not God the glory." Ah, how soon this worm- 
eaten wretch was a wretch eaten up of worms ! 



147 

Every little river pays its tribute to the great sea, 
and shall we refuse ours to the great God ? 

As there is no time in which God is not blessing 
his children, there should be no time in which his 
people are not blessing him. As he designs our 
happiness in all he does, it is but reasonable that 
we should seek his honor in all we do. We have 
no way to turn the streams unto God, the ocean of 
all bounty, but through the pipes of gratitude. 

" Giving thanks unto the Father who hath made 
us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the 
saints in light." It is very frieet that he should be 
magnified by us, when he makes us meet to be 
glorified with him. The whisperings of the voice 
are echoed back in an exact concave. 

The body of man can stoop for a pin as well 
as for a pound. As the best of means should make 
us fruitful, so the least of mercies shpuld make us 
thankful. " The four and twenty elders fall down 
before him that sitteth on the throne, and worship 
him that liveth forever." Whatsoever ointment is 
poured out upon Christ's head will run down to 
the skirts of his garment. What a saint gives to 
Christ in copper shall be returned to him in silver. 
Yea, the only way to keep our crowns on our 
heads is to cast them down at his feet. 

20. The last singular action of a sanctified 
Christian is, to value an heavenly reversion above 
an earthly possession. 

Some say that a bird in the hand is worth two 
in the bush ; but surely such a bird in the bush is 
worth two in the hand. If others dote upon the 
streams, let us admire the fountain. 



148 

Socrates being asked what countryman he was, 
answered. "I am a citizen of the whole world/' 
But ask a Christian what countryman he is, and 
he will answer, " I am a citizen of all heaven." 
Believers build their tombs where others build 
their tabernacles. The men of the world fix upon 
the things of the world ; that is the cabinet wherein 
they lock up all their jewels. Though God has 
given the earth to beasts, yet such beasts are men 
as to give themselves to the earth. 

It was the saying of a cursed cardinal, " I pre- 
fer a part in the honors of Paris to a part in the 
happiness of paradise." What is the glimmering 
of a candle to the shining of the sun, or the value 
of brass compared with gold ? Thoughtless chil- 
dren are taken up more with present counters than 
with future crowns. Thus while the shadow is 
embraced the substance is neglected, and short- 
sighted man courts the veil when he should ad- 
mire the face. 

That man who is a laboring bee for earthly 
prosperity will be but an idle drone for heavenly 
felicity. "If ye be risen with Christ, seek those 
things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the 
right hand of God." 

There is no need of blotting out the characters 
of our affections, but of writing them on fairer 
paper. There is no necessity for drying up these 
running waters, but for diverting them into their 
proper channels. Why should we wholly destroy 
these valuable plants, when they might thrive so 
well in a better soil ? He who looks upon heaven 
with desire will look upon earth with disdain. 



149 

Our affections were made for the things which are 
above us, and not for the things which are about us. 

What is an earthly manor compared to a heav- 
enly mansion ! As carnal things seem small to 
a spiritual man, so spiritual things appear small to 
a carnal man. There is no moving after things 
beyond the sphere of our own knowledge. Heaven 
is to the worldling as a mine of gold covered with 
earth and rubbish, or as a bed of pearl inclosed in 
a heap of sand. But if he had the eyes of an 
'eagle to see it, he would wish for the wings of an 
eagle to soar unto it. 

How little would the great world seem to us if 
the great God were not so little in us. Either men 
have no thoughts of a future state, or else they 
have low thoughts of a future state. If we had 
souls without any bodies, then there would be no 
need of the earth to keep us ; if we had bodies 
without any souls, there would be no need of 
heaven to crown us. 

Such as have no present holiness are for a pres- 
ent happiness. " There be many that say, who 
will show us any good?" Any good will serve 
the turns of those who know not the chief good. 
But David adds, "Lord, lift thou up the light of 
thy countenance upon us." O how sordid is it for 
men to prefer the garlic and onions of Egypt to 
the milk and honey of Canaan ! Visible things to 
them are better than invisible. They mind the 
world that is come so much as if it would never 
have any end ; and the world to come so little as 
if it would never have a beginning. 

Reader, why should you be so taken up with 
13* 



150 

your riches, when you will be so soon taken from 
your riches? Why do you dote upon a flower 
which a day may wither % As you are travelling 
beyond the world, so also it would be your wisdom 
to be trading above the world. But alas, such are 
not easily awaked who fall so fast asleep on the 
world's pillow ! 

When the Gauls had tasted the wine of Italy, 
they asked where the grapes grew, and would 
never be quiet till they came there. Thus may 
you cry, u O that I had the wings of a dove, that I 
might fly away and be at rest!' 5 A believer is 
willing to lose the world for the enjoyment of grace, 
and he is willing to leave the world for the fruition 
of glory. 

As the worst on this side eternity compared with 
hell is mercy, so the best on this side eternity com- 
pared with heaven is misery. There is no more 
comparison to be made between heaven and earth 
than there is between a piece of rusty iron and 
refined gold. St. Austin saith, " The hope of life 
immortal is the life of our immortal lives." It is 
the expectation of a future glorious heritage which 
is the Jacob's staff of saints, with which they walk 
through this dark pilgrimage. 

" If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we 
are of all men the most miserable ;" but because 
we have hope in Christ after this life, we may be 
of all men the most comfortable. Though we have 
desires in the world, yet we have no desires after 
the world. " For in this we groan earnestly, 
desiring to be clothed upon with our house which 
is from heaven." A believer longs most for that 



151 

place where he shall be best. He not only grows 
in grace, but groans for glory. 

Perfection is the boundary of the strongest 
expectation. As it is satisfied with nothing less, so 
it looks for nothing more. Everything in eternity 
is wound up to its highest capacity. It is in 
heaven that mercy will be received unmixed, and 
majesty viewed unveiled. What is a worthless 
pebble compared with a matchless pearl ! 

What a sweet salutation is that of the Saviour 
to his servant, — " Enter thou into the joy of thy 
Lord !" O, what joy shall enter into the believer 
when he shall enter into the joy of his Redeemer ! 
Then the vessels of mercy shall have sea-room 
enough in the ocean of glory. 

Those whom love has closely united together 
cannot contentedly dwell forever asunder. " Come, 
ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom pre- 
pared for you before the foundation of the world." 
That which makes hell so full of horror is that it 
is below all hopes ; and that which makes heaven 
so full of splendor is that it is above all fears. 
The one is a night without the return of day, the 
other is a day free from the approach of night. 

Who would not seek after glory with the great- 
est diligence, and wait for glory with the greatest 
patience, seeing we advance the interest while we 
stay for the principal ? 

There are some deluded professors who aspire 
after earthly grandeur ; as if the place where saints 
are crucified were the place where they are glori- 
fied. This were to consider the church in a tri- 
umphant rather than a militant condition. The 



152 

ark of the church, which is now tossed upon a 
tumultuous sea, shall then rest in the harbor of 
eternal tranquillity. 

" In my Father's house are many mansions; I 
go to prepare a place for you." Our Redeemer is 
our forerunner. He that takes possession of us on 
earth takes possession for us in heaven. As we 
are not long here without him, so he will not be 
long there without us. Here all the earth is not 
enough for one carnal man, but there one heaven 
shall be enough for all Christian men. In this life 
there are showers of tears fall from the saint's 
eyes, but in that life there shall be a sunshine of 
glory in the saint's heart. 

Many temptations may withstand a heaven-born 
soul, but no temptation shall finally prevail against 
him. Flying birds are never taken in a fowler's 
snare. What is all that we enjoy here, but as a 
dying spark of that living flame ! as a languishing 
ray of that illustrious sun ! or as a small drop of 
that overflowing spring ! 

" In whom, though now ye see him not, yet 
believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full 
of glory." If there be so much delight in believ- 
ing, oh how much is there in beholding ! What is 
the wooing-day to the wedding-day ! What is the 
sealing of the conveyance to the enjoyment of the 
inheritance ! or the foretastes of glory to the ful- 
ness of glory ! The good things of that life are so 
great as not to be measured; so many as not to 
be enumerated ; and so precious as not to be esti- 
mated. 

If the picture of holiness be so comely in its 



153 

rough draught, how lovely a piece will it be in 
all its perfections ! Every grace which is here 
seen in its minority shall be seen there in its 
maturity. 

Having despatched that which is doctrinal, I now 
come to the discussion of that which is practical. 
And I shall here propose two considerations. 

First, for the election of singular principles. 

Secondly, the direction of singular practices. 

First. For the erection of singular principles. 

Natural men obey natural principles, and spir- 
itual men obey spiritual principles. No man can 
expect that bitter roots should produce sweet fruits. 
Though civil principles may be kindled at the 
torch of nature, yet sacred principles are lighted 
at the blaze of Scripture. 

Now there are twenty singular principles which 
I shall consider as the rise and spring of singular 
practices. 

1. The first principle that believers walk by is 
this : that ichatsoever is transacted by men on earth 
is eyed by the Lord in heaven. 

A man may hide God from himself, and yet he 
cannot himself from God. This even a prodigal 
could acknowledge : "I have sinned against heav- 
en, and in thy sight." When a man wishes God 
to be like himself, it argues that he is vicious ; but 
when he desires to be like God, it indicates that he 
is virtuous. 

A false God would be most acceptable to a false 
heart. For " their idols are silver and gold, the 
work of men's hands." They have mouths, but 



154 

they speak not for our direction ; eyes have they, 
but they see not our condition ; they have ears, but 
they hear not our supplication ; they have hands, 
but they work not our redemption. These were 
not the gods that made men, but the gods that men 
made. 

" But all things are naked and open before the 
eyes of him with whom we have to do." 

We cannot always see his will in his works, but 
he can always discover our works in our will. To 
him the most hidden roots are as visible as the 
uppermost branches. Though the place where we 
sin be to men as dark as Egypt, yet to God it is as 
light as Goshen. 

That advice which one gave to his friend pri- 
vately is worthy to be adopted publicly. " So act 
towards men as in the sight of God, and so pray 
to God as in the sight of men." He is a bold thief 
who will cut your purse while you look in his face. 

" All. the ways of a man are clean in his own 
eyes, but the Lord weigheth the spirits." The 
Lord sees faults where men see none. Atoms 
which are invisible in the candle-light of reason 
are all made to dance naked in the sunshine of 
omniscience. 

Cato was so grave and so good a man, that none 
would behave unseemly in his presence ; whence it 
grew to a proverbial caveat, "Take heed what 
you do, for Cato sees you." How reproachful is 
it to us that the eyes of a man should have more 
effect upon our manners than the penetrating eyes 
of God! 

Momus, one of the heathen gods, is said to have 



155 

complained of Vulcan that he had not set a grate 
at every man's breast. God hath a glazed window 
in the darkest houses of clay ; he sees what is 
done in them when none other can. To God's 
omnipotence there is nothing impossible, and to 
God's omniscience there is nothing invisible. I 
never look for those persons to strain at gnats who 
will easily and greedily swallow camels. 

What is the reason that men do the works of 
darkness, but that they think they do their works 
in gross darkness? They suppose that no eye sees 
them ; no, not his eye that doth nothing else but 
see. " And thou sayest, How doth God know? 
can he judge through the dark cloud? Thick 
clouds are a covering to him that he seeth not." 
Ah, how fain would the hand of man draw a veil 
over the face of God ! 

An unsound creature would be an unseen crea- 
ture. " Understand, ye brutish among the people, 
and ye fools, when will ye be wise ? He that 
planted the ear, shall he not hear ? he that formed 
the eye, shall he not see?" What, will you make 
him deaf who gives you ears ! and him blind who 
gives you eyes ! This is acting like a beast among 
men, and not as a man among beasts. But, "The 
Lord knoweth the thoughts df men that they are 
vanity." And this is the vainest thought of them 
all, that he knows not the vanity of their thoughts. 

Reader, you cannot set down your lusts in such 
characters but what the eyes of God can read 
them. As he can save in the greatest extremity, 
so he can see in the deepest obscurity. 

Plato saith of the king of Lydia that he had a 



156 

ring, with which, when he turned the head to the 
palm of his hand, he could see every person, and yet 
he himself remain invisible. Though we cannot 
see God while we live, yet he can see how we live. 
" For his eyes are Upon the ways of man, and he 
seeth all his goings." Man may gild over the 
leaves of a blurred life with the profession of holi- 
ness, but God can unmask the painted Jezebel of 
hypocrisy, and lay her naked to her own shame. 

Because sin hath put out our eyes we vainly 
imagine that it has put out God's. Because we 
behold not what he does in heaven for us, we 
think that he sees not what we do on earth against 
him. 

Men care not what they do when they believe 
that God sees not what is done. " They slay the 
widow and the stranger, and murder the father- 
less. They say, The Lord shall not see, neither 
shall the God of Jacob regard it." "The adulterer 
waits for the twilight." His sin gets up when the 
sun goes down. The time of darkness pays most 
tribute to the prince of darkness. There are many 
that blush to confess their faults, who never blush 
to commit them. 

When poor Adam had sinned he sought not the 
fairest fruits to satisfy his hunger, but the broadest 
leaves to cover his nakedness. It is God's gra- 
cious eye placed upon us that makes us religious, 
and it is our believing eye fixed on him that keeps 
us "or erous. What servant is there, wno would 
sleep under the view of his master? or what sol- 
dier would appear a coward in the presence of his 
prince V 



157 

2. Another principle by which a Christian should 
walk is this : that after all his present receivings 
he will be brought to his future reckonings. 

Thus the certain rich man dealt with his stew- 
ard : "Give an account of thy stewardship, for 
thou mayest be no longer steward." Man's enjoy- 
ment of outward blessings is not a lordship, but a 
stewardship. God communicates those good things 
of life to men, not that they should lay them up 
for their own vanity, but that they should lay them 
out for his glory. The richest man had as poor a 
beginning as the meanest, and the poorest will 
have as rich an end as the wealthiest. 

" So teach us to number our days that we may 
apply our hearts unto wisdom." St. Austin says, 
" We can never do that except we number every 
day as our last day." Many put far the evil day. 
They refuse to leave the earth when the earth is 
about to take its leave of them. 

Persons of the greatest eminence have anciently 
had their monitors. Agathocles, a Sicilian prince, 
had his earthen plate set before him to remind him 
that he had been a potter. The Roman triumph- 
ers, in the meridian of their splendor, had a ser- 
vant behind them, crying to each, Memento te esse 
hominem ; that is, "Remember that you are only 
a man." 

Men, who are gods in office, are too apt to think 
themselves gods in essence ; but the change of the 
name can make no change in the man. The royal 
Psalmist who was raised to princely dignity ridi- 
cules such a haughty prince's vanity: "I have 
said ye are gods, but ye shall die like men." All 
14 



158 

human divinity will soon be shrouded in mortal- 
ity; and those who would appear as gods before 
men shall soon appear as men before God. 

Death levels the highest mountains with the 
lowest valleys. He mows down the fairest lilies as 
well as the foulest thistles. Tte robes of illus- 
trious princes and the rags of homely peasants are 
both laid aside in the wardrobe of the grave. 

As the cloud and pillar which led Israel through 
the wilderness left them on the brink of Jordan, so 
shall all the glittering shows of life be forgotten in 
the solemn article of death. Then those ungodly 
mortals who were determined not to approach a 
throne of grace, shall be obliged to appear before a 
throne of judgment. "For we must all appear 
before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one 
may receive the things done in his body, accord- 
ing to that he hath done, whether it be good or 
bad." 

At the shrill voice of the last trumpet, every 
jailer shall deliver up all his prisoners. Now we 
see the living fall into the arms of death, but then 
We shall behold the dead awake, and rise to an 
unchanging life. Then the scattered dust of all 
Adam's children shall ride upon the wings of the 
wind, till it meet together in its own bodies. 

Then the purchased bodies of saints shall be 
claimed by their heavenly owner. "Thy dead 
men shall live, together with my dead body shall 
they arise ; awake and sing, ye that dwell in the 
dust." All the various animals which have feasted 
on human flesh shall then find that their food was 
too rich for digestion. The bellies of beasts and 



159 

whales are not always to be the bed of God's 
Jonahs. Death will cut us down, but he shall 
not eternally keep us down. 

Now the same glorious person who shall come 
to raise the dead, will also come to judge the dead. 
"In the day when God shall judge the secrets of 
men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel. 7 ' 
The same rule which God has given the world to 
act by, the same rule has he taken to himself to 
judge by. 

Reader, if you obstinately and finally disobey 
the precious truth of God, revealed from heaven to 
you, you must suffer the eternal wrath of God, 
revealed from heaven against you. Though you 
may now hardenedly resist the judgments which he 
sets before your eyes, yet you cannot then resist 
those which he will angrily pour out upon your 
soul. 

Poor sinner, will you yet so wilfully embrace 
those poisonous vipers, your lusts, which will so 
assuredly sting you with the pains of eternal 
death? Why will you rashly pursue anything in 
this world which will subject you to the intolerable 
curse of God in another ? 

God hath appointed a day in which he will 
judge the world in righteousness by that man 
whom he hath ordained. It is the Son of man by 
whom the believing world was redeemed ; and it 
will be by the same Son of man that the whole 
world shall be judged. He who was guarded to 
the cross by a band of soldiers, shall soon be 
attended to the bench by a shining company of 
angels. 



160 

The ancient Thebans pictured their judges with- 
out eyes, that they might not respect persons ; and 
without hands, to denote that no bribes should be 
received. " But the Judge of all the earth shall do 
right." The wills of human judges are to be regu- 
lated by the laws of righteousness ; but so glorious 
is the heavenly Judge that even the laws of right- 
eousness are regulated by his will. As all his 
works are great and marvellous, so are all his 
ways just and righteous. 

Reader, there will be no possibility of standing 
before Christ, but by standing in Christ. What 
hopes can you entertain of an acquittal at the 
general assize, if your conscience condemn you 
before you appear at the bar ? 

Those who freight their minds with carnal 
pleasures will one day be condemned for carrying 
contraband commodities. " Rejoice, O young man, 
in thy youth, and let thine heart cheer thee in the 
days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine 
own heart and in the sight of thine own eyes." 
This were brave, indeed, if it could but be secured 
forever ; but alas, after the flash of lightning then 
comes the dreadful clap of thunder, "But know 
thou that for all these things God will bring thee 
into judgment." This is just as if God had said, 
"Well, poor sinner, run down the hill as fast as you 
please ; but know that you will be sure to break 
your neck at last." 

This is the day of God's long-suffering, but the 
judgment day will be the day of the sinner's long- 
suffering. Here the cords of patience do, as it 
were, tie the hands of vengeance ; but our Sam 



161 

son may at last be roused and break all these 
cords, and then woe be to all the Philistines. Sin- 
ners may have sparing patience exercised towards 
them, and yet not have converting grace revealed 
in them. All such, at the world's end, will be at 
their wit's end. 

He who now shakes his sword over the hard- 
ened sinner's head will in the great day sheathe it 
in his heart. In the awful storm of death, if his 
vessel be wrecked, there will be no plank to swim 
to shore upon. 

" And the kings of the earth, and the great men, 
and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the 
mighty men, and every bondman, and every free- 
man, said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us 
and hide us from the face of him that sitteth upon 
the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb.' 7 
Thus, all who refuse and reject him as a refining 
fire must be obliged to meet and feel him as a con- 
suming fire. How can they endure the wrath of 
the Lamb who have uniformly disregarded the 
death of the Lamb? If the night of death find 
them graceless, the day of judgment will find them 
speechless. 

St. Peter informs us of some who deridingly 
challenge God to come to judgment : " There shall 
come in the last days scoffers walking after their 
own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his 
teoming?" These cowards may boast and dis- 
charge the artillery of their 'venom, and appear as 
conquering heroes at a distance ; but when he, 
appears with his naked sword, they will wish for 
the wings of the wind wherewith to make their 
14* 



162 

escape. As a dying man has generally a short 
revival before his departure, and as an expiring 
candle gives a brighter glare when just going out, 
so these, in their boasted security, will be surprised 
with eternal misery. 

As mercy lets no service pass unregarded, so 
justice lets no sin pass unrevenged. He who now 
makes no account of his coming, will have a sad 
account to give at his coming. 

One observes that the resurrection of the body is 
placed between the forgiveness of sins and ever- 
lasting glory ; to show that then only can the 
resurrection of the body be a benefit, when remis- 
sion of sin precedes it, and eternal life succeeds it. 

It is reported of a Hungarian king, who, being 
on a time extremely dejected, was asked the cause 
of it by his brother, " O, I have been a great sinner 
against God," said he, "and know not how I shall 
appear before him in judgment!" His brother 
ridiculed these his thoughts as too melancholy, and 
as unworthy of a moment's place in the breast of a 
king. The king then made no further reply ; but 
it was customary in that country that if the exe- 
cutioner sounded a trumpet at any man's door, he 
was presently to be had forth to execution. 

The king, at midnight, sent the trumpeter to 
sound an alarm at his brother's door; which so 
terrified him that he ran to the king with a trem- 
bling heart, a pale and frightful countenance, and 
besought him to make known wherein he had 
offended him. "O brother," said the king, "you 
have never displeased me, but if the sight of mine 



163 

executioner be so dreadful in your eyes, what must 
\he sight of God's be in mine?" 

Reader, if you have uniformly lifted up your 
rebellious hand against Christ, how will you be 
able to lift up your guilty head before Christ? 
" For God shall bring every work into judgment, 
with every secret thing, whether it be good, or 
whether it be bad." If men were to be their own 
judges, they would never be just judges. But God 
shall bring every work into judgment. As he is 
too merciful to condemn the innocent, so he is too 
just to acquit the guilty. 

" For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and 
by thy words thou shalt be condemned." Though 
the arrows of idle words may be shot out of sight 
for a season, yet they will certainly hereafter fall 
down upon the heads of those who discharged 
them. Reader, if your servant be capable of 
offending you by his words, is it not as reasonable 
to suppose that you are capable of offending God 
with yours ? 

1 ■ Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing 
and cursing." Than a good tongue there is noth- 
ing better; than an evil tongue there is nothing 
worse. Jesus Christ will in the great day pass a 
sentence upon every sentence that has passed. 
There is in the same rose honey for the bee and 
poison for the spider. 

The same person who shall say, "Come, ye 
blessed," will also say, " Go, ye cursed." As 
blessing and cursing proceed out of the mouth of 
the same man, so they will out of the mouth of 
Christ. Man's is a curse of wicked execration, 



164 

but Christ's is a curse of righteous execution. As 
the same wind may send one vessel into the haven, 
and sink another in the ocean, so shall the same 
voice of Christ doom the sinner to eternal death 
and welcome the saint to eternal life. That gate 
which is opened for a citizen to go abroad for 
recreation, may also be opened for a malefactor to 
go out to execution. 

Reader, how sad is that tragedy which shall 
never be ended! On the stage of eternity the rich 
man's bags will be emptied, to see how the poor 
man's box has been filled. Then the charge of 
the pilgrim's journey will be examined in the 
steward's accounts. Ah, how can you hear the 
doleful knell of an everlasting funeral ! Will 
those transient glances of former prosperity lessen 
the intolerable weight of future calamity ? 

The wheat and the chaff may grow together, 
but they shall not always lie together. There may 
be but the breathing of a few moments between 
the sinner and everlasting burning. The day of 
retribution will prove to him a day of separation. 
While the wheat is secured in the garner the tares 
are consumed in the fire. 

Sinner, if you now hold the righteous in derision 
you would then give a thousand worlds to be their 
companion. Then their enjoyments will bQ incom- 
parably pleasant, while your torments shall be 
intolerably painful. The sea of damnation will 
not be sweetened with a' drop of compassion. If 
once you fall into hell, after millions of ages arej 
elapsed you will be as far from coming out as you 
were at -going in. 



1G5 

There will not be a sinner in heaven to interrupt 
the joys of saints, nor a saint in hell to soften or 
soothe the anguish of sinners. Those who have 
the ear-mark of election, and those who have the 
hand-mark of transgression, shall be put into sep- 
arate folds. 

How will those magistrates appear who have 
stained the sword of authority with the blood of 
innocency ? They have turned its back against 
the vicious and whet its edge against the right- 
eous. Many an unjust judge who now sits confi- 
dently on the bench will then stand trembling at 
the bar. 

How will those ministers appear who, like the 
dog and wolf, combine to macerate the flock; who, 
instead of treading out the corn, tread it down ; 
and instead of furthering the birth have strangled 
the child? 

How will fair-faced, gilded professors appear 
when they shall be found no better than helFs 
freeholders? How will they appear when the 
painted sepulchre shall be opened and the dead 
men's bones disclosed? They will not be judged 
by the whiteness of their hands, but by the black- 
ness of their consciences. The black hand must 
then part with its white glove. That solemn day 
will be too critical for the hypocritical. All those 
who now color for show will then be shown in their 
own colors. 

3. Another principle that believers should walk 
by is this: that God bears a greater respect to their 
hearts than he doth to their works. 

God looks most where man looks least. " My 



166 

son, give me thine heart." We cannot trust God 
with too much, or ourselves with too little. The 
first is our merciful keeper, the last is our barbarous 
traitor. Here you have the dignity with which 
a believer is invested, and the duty to which he is 
invited. 

The God of heaven and earth sues from heaven 
to earth. He who is all in all to us calls for that 
which is all in all in us. We may commit our 
estates into the hands of men, but we must not 
commit our hearts into the hands of any but God. 
There are none of our spirits so good but he de- 
serves them, or so bad but he can refine them. 

On whom do parents bestow their hearts but 
upon their children ? and on whom should chil- 
dren bestow theirs but upon their parents ? 

Ah, how unwilling is man to give what he has 
no right to keep ! As God prefers the heart to 
everything, such is the wickedness of man, that 
he will give God anything but the heart. " This 
people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, 
and honoreth me with their lips ; but their heart is 
far from me." Heartless operations are but hearty 
dissimulation. Men may keep their works to 
themselves if they refuse to yield their hearts to 
Jesus Christ. He that regards the heart without 
anything, he also will not regard anything without 
the heart. 

" I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mer- 
cies of God, that ye present your bodies a living 
sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God." He who 
makes all he hath has a right to have all he makes. 
The formalist is all for outward activity, and the 



167 

sensualist is all for inward sincerity. The first 
hath nothing within him, therefore he is for that 

which is outward ; the second hath nothing with- 
out, therefore he is for that which is inward. But 
it is not the pretence of inward sincerity that can 
justify outward impiety ; nor a show of outward 
piety that will excuse for inward hypocrisy. 

Though the brain be the spring of sensitive 
motion, yet the heart is the original spring of vital 
motion. The heart is the first that lives and the 
last that dies. " O Jerusalem, wash thy heart 
from wickedness; how long shall vain thoughts 
lodge within thee?' 7 Vain thoughts defile the heart 
as well as vile thoughts. Snails leave their slime 
behind them as well as serpents. 

If the leprosy take hold of a single thread, it 
will soon spread over the whole piece. Though 
sinful thoughts will rise, yet they should not reign. 
Though these birds may hover over the Christian's 
heart, yet he cannot wish them to build their nests 
in it. 

The devil knows that if there be any good 
treasure it is in our hearts, and he would gladly 
have the key of these cabinets that he might rob 
us of our jewels. A heart which is sanctified is 
better than a tongue that is silvered. He that 
gives only the skin of worship to God receives 
only the shell of comfort from God. 

It is not the bare touching of the strings that 
makes a harmonious tune. A spiritual man may 
pray carnally, but a carnal man cannot pray spir- 
itually. If God's mercies do not eat out the heart 
of our sins, our sins will soon eat out the heart of 



168 

our duties. A work that is heartless is a work 
that is fruitless. God cares not for the crazy cab- 
inet, but for the precious jewel. 

It is said of Hannibal, the great Carthaginian 
commander, that he was the first that went into 
the field of battle and the last that came out of it. 
Thus should it be in all the operations of a Chris- 
tian, the heart should be the first that comes into 
the house of God and the last that goes out of it. 
In prayer the heart should first speak the words, 
and then the words should speak the sentiments 
of the heart. If the heart be inditing a good mat- 
ter, the tongue will then be as the pen of a ready 
writer. 

It is observed of the spider, that in the morning, 
before she seeks her prey, she mends her broken 
web, and in doing this she always begins in the 
middle. And shall those who call themselves 
Christians rise and pursue the callings and profits 
of the world, and yet be unconcerned about the 
broken webs of their lives, and especially of their 
hearts ? 

Those who would have the cocks run with 
wholesome water should look well to the springs 
that supply them. The heart is the presence 
chamber where the King of glory takes up his res- 
idence. That which is most worthy in us should 
be resigned to him who is most worthy of us. 

Good words without the heart are but flattery, 
and good works without the heart are but hypoc- 
risy. Though God pities stumbling Israelites, yet 
he punishes halting hypocrites. 

It is reported of Bishop Cranmer, that after his 



169 

flesh and bones were consumed in the flames his 
heart was found whole. A gracious man is clothed 
with sincerity in the midst of his infirmities. 

" God is a spirit, and they that worship him 
must worship him in spirit and in truth.' ' None 
can ever give him the heart in their services unless 
they are enabled to give him their hearts in their ser- 
vices. The sorrowful sighing of the heart in wor- 
ship is preferable to the most elevated and harmo- 
nious voice. One is the exertion of nature, the 
other is the production of grace. Pride may be at 
the root of one, but God is the foundation of the 
other. One may ravish our ears, but the other 
ravishes God's heart. 

It is said of the Lacedaemonians, who were a 
poor and homely people, that they offered lean sac- 
rifices to their gods, and that the Athenians, who 
were a wise and wealthy people, offered fat and 
costly sacrifices, and yet in their wars the former 
had always the mastery of the latter. Where- 
upon they went to the oracle to know the reason 
why those should speed worst who gave most. 
The oracle returned this answer to them : " That 
the Lacedaemonians were a people who gave their 
hearts to their gods, but that the Athenians only 
gave their gifts to their gods." Thus a heart with- 
out a gift is better than a gift without a heart. 

Religion is a sacrifice, but the heart is the altar 
upon which it must be offered. As the body is at 
the command of the head who rules it, so should 
the soul be at the command of God who gives it. 
For a man to take his body to the service of God, 
and leave his soul behind him, is as if a person 
15 



170 

should send his garments stuffed with straw instead 
of making a personal appearance. 

4. Another principle by which believers will 
walk is this : that there is more final bitterness in 
reflecting upon sin than there can be present siveet- 
ness in the commission of sin. 

The ways of sin may have popular approbation, 
but they shall also have divine odium marked 
upon them. This Delilah may please us for a 
time, but she will betray us at last. Though 
Satan's apples may have a fair skin, yet they cer- 
tainly have a bitter core. 

Methinks the flaming sword in one hand, and 
the golden sceptre in the other, should guard us 
from the forbidden tree, and make our hearts like 
wet tinder to all the sparks of Satan. 

Reader, if you behold nothing but pleasure in 
the commission of sin, you will experience nothing 
but the most cutting pain in its conclusion. " The 
wages of sin is death." All workmen should have 
their wages, and those who employ you, it is but 
reasonable that they should pay you. But how- 
ever you may delight in the works of sin, you will 
by no means relish the wages of sin. Ah, what 
wise man would toil so long in sin's drudgery, 
whose wages are no better than eternal misery ! 

Though all sins are not equal in their nature, 
yet all sins are in their very nature mortal. The 
candle of man's life is blown out by the wind of 
his lusts. The corruption of nature tends to the 
dissolution of nature. When the plague was in 
the Jewish houses they were forthwith to be de- 



171 

molished. It is at that enemy, sin, that God shoots 
all his arrows. 

Reader, you began to be mortal when you began 
to be sinful. If you had never had anything to 
do with sin, death could never have had anything to 
do with you. It can only be your impiety which 
divests you of the chartered blessings of immor- 
tality. 

Sin is like a serpent in the bosom, which stings 
you, or like a thief in your closet, who plunders 
you. It resembles poison in the stomach, or a 
sword in the bowels, both of which tend death. 
Like St. John's book, it may be sweet in your 
mouth, but it will be bitter in your belly. How- 
ever fair iniquity might appear to some, it will only 
be found like a blear-eyed Leah to God. 

The foul dregs lie at the bottom of the vessel. 
Who does not know that the golden cup of sin is 
filled with the most nauseous ingredients ? Sinner, 
that which is now like a rose flourishing in your 
bosom will in a very little time be like a poisoned 
dagger at your breast. Poor soul, beware of those 
embraces which are but signals of destruction. 
While such a Judas kisses, he kills. ' While the 
ivy twines round the oak, it eats out its sap. 

If sin were not so deceitful, it would not be so 
delightful. Like an angler, it shows the bait but 
conceals the hook. Now it represents its present 
painted beauty, but casts a covering over its future 
obliquity. Wickedness is certainly like a river, 
which begins in a quiet spring, but ends in a tu- 
multuous sea. 

Every being produces its own likeness. u Do 



172 

men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles'?" 
The grapes of tranquillity cannot grow upon the 
thorns of impiety. Inward peace can only be 
espoused to inward purity. A good way to have 
conscience un tormented is to have it undefiled. 
He who made you clean within will also keep you 
calm within. 

A saint cannot so sin as to destroy his grace, but 
he may so sin as to disturb his peace. The spider 
cannot destroy the bee-hive, but it may get in and 
spoil the honey. If you, O man, be found nibbling 
at the bait, you may justly expect the hook to enter 
into your bowels ! 

O think, you who now glory in nothing so much 
as sin, that there is a time approaching when you 
will be ashamed of nothing but sin. You may be 
eternally sinful, but you cannot be eternally joy- 
ful. In hell all that sugar will be melted in which 
this bitter pill was wrapped. That is too hot a 
climate for wanton delights to live in. 

The pleasures of sin are but for a season, but 
the torments of unpardoned sin are of an eternal 
duration. Our first parents soon ate of the forbid- 
den fruit, but the world to this day feel^that it is 
not freed from the miserable consequence of that 
sudden banquet. 

Solomon exactly describes sin's rise and fall. 
" Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful, and the 
end of that mirth is heaviness." Death will turn 
all the waters of pleasure into blood. The serpent 
of sensual delight always carries a deadly sting 
in its tail. All the meridian glare of worldly pomp 
will soon end in midnight darkness and horror. 



173 

Sinner, will gall and wormwood ever make you 
pleasant wine ? Will thick and poisonous vapors 
ever yield you sweet and wholesome showers ? If 
you pursue sin for profit you will never profit by 
your sin. 

O that England did but look with scripture 
glasses upon all its departing glories, and solemnly 
say, "If sin had not been here, they would never 
have been there. 3 ' It is better to take up our lodg- 
ings in a bed of snakes, than in a forbidden bed of 
prevailing lusts. Who would spread the silken 
sails of the mind upon the piratical ship of wanton- 
ness? 

When the pale horse of death goes before, the 
red horse of wrath follows after. When the sin- 
ner's body goes to the worms to be consumed, then 
his soul goes to hell to be tormented. A wise man 
knows that it is far better to forego the pleasures 
of sin here, than to undergo the pains of sin here- 
after. 

Reader, if you delight in sin, I wish you to 
remember that your ill-doing will shortly be your 
undoing. " What fruit had ye then in those things 
whereof ye are now ashamed?" What advantage 
does Dives now reap in hell from all the delicate 
hanquets he sat down to on earth? What taste 
has Cleopatra now, from her draught of dissolved 
pearls ? The stench and torment of everlasting 
burnings will take away the sweetest perfumes 
that ever sin was covered with. 

Young Joseph chose rather to be a close pris- 
oner for Christ than to be an open slave to his 
lusts. "How can I do this wickedness and sin 
15* 



174 

against God?" It does not only grieve a saint 
that God is displeased at what he does, but that he 
is dishonored by what he does. He is more dis- 
tressed for sin which brings evil, than for the evil 
which sin brings. 

When the dumb son of Croesus saw his father's 
life in danger, it is said that he cried out so loud 
in his fright that his tongue-strings broke, and he 
exclaimed, "O kill not king Croesus." Did Christ 
open his veins for our redemption, and shall not 
we open our mouths for his vindication ? 

" The crown is fallen from our heads, woe unto 
us that we have sinned." Sin is not only a mon- 
ster that unmans us, but it is also a tyrant that 
uncrowns us. Nay, it not only takes the crown 
from off the sinner's head, but it also entails the 
curse upon the sinner's soul. 

There are many who vainly suppose that the 
fountain of their sin is quite dried up, when, alas ! 
the streams are only turned into another channel. 
A hand taken off from sinful practices, without a 
heart taken off from sinful principles, is only like 
a field, which, having for a time lain fallow, after- 
ward springs up with greater increase; or it is like 
a stream, Avhich, having been dammed for a while, 
at last runs with greater violence when the sluices 
are opened. 

5. Another singular principle for believers to 
walk by is this : that there is the greatest vanity in 
all created excellency. 

If this truth were more believed this world 
would be less adored. 

A lady being once told that the world in all its 



175 

glory was but vanity, returned for answer, u True, 
I have heard that Solomon said so ; but he tried it 
before he said it, and so will I." Thus, many 
believe not a toad to be poisonous till they are 
envenomed with it ; but they forget that it is not 
only vanity, but also vexation of spirit; and all 
who are resolved to try the former must also feel 
the latter. 

He that knocks at the creature's door for sup- 
plies will find an empty house kept there. " All the 
rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full." 
Though all the rising streams of worldly profits 
may run into the hearts of men, yet they cannot 
fill up the hearts of men. 

Reader, did you never hear a rich man complain 
of the want of riches ? Though he has enough to 
support him, yet he has not enough to content 
him. Were it possible for the eye to see all that 
is to be seen, yet it would not be satisfied with 
seeing. If there be not enough in the world 
to satisfy the senses of men, how should there be 
enough in it to satisfy the souls of men? 

The earth is not a satisfying substance, but a 
fleeting shadow. "For the fashion of this world 
passe th away." The most excellent and flourish- 
ing appearances in the whole creation are continu- 
ally hastening to dissolution. We are commanded 
to use the world as though we used it not : because 
while we use the world it is not, The tide of 
worldly grandeur which brings the gallant ship 
into the haven may suddenly leave her in the mud. 
The higher the sun of prosperity approaches on its 
meridian, the nearer it is to its setting. 



176 

Oh, all ye who caress the world, have ye not seen 
some, who have begun their lives in a palace, to 
end them in a prison? The golden chains about 
their necks have been turned into iron fetters about 
their feet. The substance of this life is but for 
the season of this life. All creature felicity will 
become a prize to mortality. 

Ye who feed upon golden dust must have all 
your gold turned to dust, and the short summer of 
your prosperity will usher in the long winter of 
adversity. Those who now rejoice in the world 
will, before it be long, have no world wherein to 
rejoice. " Arise ye and depart, for this is not 
your rest, because it is polluted; it shall destroy 
you even with a sore destruction." Heart's-ease 
is a flower that grows not in the world's garden. 

Where does that fish swim that will not nibble 
at that hook on which there hangs a golden bait ? 
How many perish for trusting to that which per- 
ishes in the using ! 

Poor worldling, why do you seek for wealth 
with such incessant anxiety, seeing the greatest 
misers are laid as naked on their dusty pillow as 
the poorest beggars? The faster you grasp the 
world in your hands, the sooner it slides between 
your fingers. 

"For what is a man profited if he shall gain 
the world and lose his own soul?" He that 
bought this ware knew its worth. If the world be 
gained it may be lost again ; but if the soul be lost 
at death it can never be recovered. There is a 
way to keep a man out of hell, but no way to get 



177 

a man out of hell. It is as easy for a stone to 
lodge in the air as for a man to rest in the earth. 

The greatest glory of this world is like a rotten 
post, which never shows its brightness but in the 
dark. How few are there who have resolved to 
ascend the pinnacle of honor, but what have left a 
good conscience at the bottom of the ladder ! Be- 
lievers themselves would be surfeited with the 
world's sweet meat, if a gracious God were not to 
call them away from the banquet. 

Creature comforts are like the soft morning 
dews, which, while they water the branches of the 
tree, leave the roots dry. Why should the pro- 
fessors of Christianity be found eagerly pursuing 
those trifles which even heathens have been found 
flying from? The world is rather a sharp brier to 
wound us than a sweet flower to delight us. 

As poison works more furiously in wine than 
in water, so corruptions betray themselves more 
in a state of plenty than they do in a state of 
poverty. 

Gerhard compares this life to a beautiful nut, 
which, however fair it may seem, is full of nothing 
but worms and rottenness. The earth is for a 
saint's passage, but heaven is prepared for him as 
his portion. The former is for a believer's use, the 
latter only is a believer's choice. 

Everything below is too base for the soul's 
nobility, and too brittle for the soul's stability. 
Who would set that vessel under the droppings of 
a cistern, which is able to contain all the waters 
of the ocean ? 

A professor boasting of the world is but like a 



178 

bladder filled with the wind. Those who set out 
at first, like Judas, for the world, may be put oil at 
last, like Demas, with the world. "Son, remem- 
ber that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good 
things." These blossoms will fall off from all 
such spreading trees when death comes to shake 
the boughs. 

The world is too frequently got with anxious 
cares, kept with alarming fears, and lost with 
rending groans. We see the outside of the great 
estate, but not the inside of it. We behold the 
field of corn, but not the tares that are mixed with 
it. We do not always see the worldling's clouds 
and dark nights, but his clear day and sunshine. 
The riches, honors and pleasures of the world are 
like spreading but poisonous trees ; and the devil 
shows us the fair leaves and offers us the pleasant 
fruits, but conceals from us their deadly nature. 

The world pretends to be a nurse, but those who 
draw her breasts will find in one the water of 
vanity, and in the other the wind of vexation. It 
is counted miraculous to find a diamond in a vein 
of gold, but it is more miraculous to find a pure 
and precious Christ in the bosom of an earthly 
Christian. 

When we have the least of creature enjoyments, 
it is then our duty to bless God for them ; when 
we have most of creature enjoyments, it is then our 
distinguished privilege not to bless ourselves in 
them. 

The world does us infinitely more hurt by loving 
it than it can possibly do us good by having it. 
" Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for 



179 

that which endure th to everlasting life." Ah, 
what a fool is he who would hazard a glorious 
crown above for a single crumb below ! 

By how much the higher the morning larks are 
in their flight, by so much the sweeter are their 
notes. The higher a Christian is raised above the 
things of the earth, the more he is ravished with 
the joys of heaven. The least portion of grace is 
preferable to a mountain of gold. One ray of 
mercy is better than a sun of pleasure. One 
whisper of love from Christ's voice is worth more 
than all the symphony of nature. Give me that 
friend who lives forever, and that wealth which 
lasts forever. May I make choice of those bless- 
ings which come freely, satisfy fully, and continue 
eternally. 

" Surely every man walketh in a vain show; 
surely they are disquieted in vain; he heapeth up 
riches and knoweth not who shall gather them.' 5 
Every carnal man walks in a vain show, and yet 
how vain is he of his show of vanity ! 

He is disquieted in vain, and it is only vanity 
which disquiets him. He labors all his life for the 
profit of riches, and yet in death his riches will not 
profit him. He that views an ox grazing in a fat 
pasture, concludes that he is but preparing for the 
day of slaughter. 

Worldly enjoyments are but like hot waters, 
which, as some affirm, are soonest congealed in 
frosty weather. The greatest happiness of the 
creature is not to have the creature for his hap- 
piness. It is far better not to have the world at 
all than to have our all in the world. Who would 



180 

be like the raven, to feed upon the carrion of this 
execrated world, while there is a much wholesomer 
food for doves in the ark ? 

The world at best is but a looking-glass ; there 
is a face presented by it, but there is no face seated 
in it. When you have sifted out its finest flour it 
turns to bran. 

" Labor not to be rich." A strange paradox ! 
If it were not for labor, who would be rich ; and 
if it were not for riches, who would labor 3 But 
see what follows : " Wilt thou set thine eyes upon 
that which is not?" While riches are, they are 
not. They are not what they look like ; they have 
not in them what we look for. But what are they 
not % They are not durables, but movables. M For 
riches certainly make themselves wings and fly 
away as an eagle towards heaven." The gourd 
may flourish in the day, but it will wither at night. 

The cup that now overflows with wine may be 
filled up to the brim with water. When the sun 
of earthly happiness is in its meridian rays it may 
be eclipsed. A man rejoices in health, and an ague 
shakes him ; — in honor, and a cloud shadows him ; 
— in riches, and a thief robs him ; — in peace, and 
a rumor disturbs him; — in life, and death disap- 
points him. 

The heavens at first had their dropsy, and then 
the old world was drowned. The heavens at last 
shall have their fever, and then the new world 
shall be burned. 

The earth is big in our hopes, but little in our 
hands. It is like Sodom's apples, beautiful to the 
eye at a distance, but when they are touched they 



181 

crumble into ashes. M Riches avail not in the day 
of wrath." Not in the day of man's wrath to 
preserve him from plundering, nor in the day of 
God's wrath to keep him from punishment. 

Pleasures are but a shield of melting wax against 
a sword of power ; they can no more keep an evil 
conscience from tormenting than a velvet sleeve 
can keep a broken arm from aching. 

Fire, some people say, came down from heaven, 
therefore restlessly works itself through all com- 
bustibles till it return thither again. "He that 
cometh from above is above all." Shall those 
who are so nobly descended be so ignobly minded ? 

Do but see how the men of the world toil upon 
their hands and knees for the things of the world. 
There be many that say, " Who will show us any 
good?" As if they could find a heaven in the 
trifles of earth ! 

That was a hard expression of a hardened 
worldling, "Let God but give me enough of the 
earth, and I will never complain of the want of 
heaven." Thus we see the curse of the serpent 
entailed upon the seed of the serpent. What God 
pronounces as a malediction they take as a bene- 
diction. 

" Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceed- 
ing high mountain, and showeth him all the king- 
doms of the world, and the glory of them, and saith 
unto him, All these things will I give thee if thou 
wilt fall down and worship me." If a covetous 
man had been there, O how would he have catched 
the promise out of the devil's lips, lest he should 
have gone back from his word ! 
16 



182 

Some are so enchanted with their golden bags 
that they will ride post to hell, if they might but 
be well paid with golden wedges for their pains. 
All such covetous Balaams must fall by their own 
devices. 

Covetousness is incompatible with the love of 
holiness. The excellent of the earth can see no 
excellency in the earth. This world is no better 
than a loathsome dunghill, upon which the wealthy 
stand crowing, and about which the poor are 
scraping; but if he alone be blessed who lives 
above the world, then those cannot be blessed who 
live in conformity to the world. 

6. Another singular principle by which a Chris- 
tian should walk is this : that duties can never 
have too much attention paid to them, or too little 
confidence placed in them. 

The Christian owes nothing to his corruptions 
but their crucifixion. " Therefore, brethren, we 
are debtors, not to the flesh to live after the flesh." 
Where God becomes a donor man becomes a debtor. 
The debt of sin is mercifully discharged for him, 
that the debt of service might be willingly dis- 
charged by him. 

Every created thing has its bounds, but grace 
has none. In true godliness there is no excess. 
Those wells which are of God's digging can never 
be too full of water. He delights to see the trees 
of righteousness laden with the fruits of righteous- 
ness. 

Though faith alone justifies the soul, yet that 
faith which justifies the soul is not alone. What- 
soever trees are without their fruits, that also is 



183 

faith without good works. In proof of sanctifica- 
tion good works cannot be sufficiently magnified, 
but in point of justification good works cannot be 
sufficiently nullified. The lamp of duty can only 
shine clearly, as it is trimmed with the oil of 
mercy. 

The most famous Roman pilots, when they have 
approached the shore, have quitted the bottom of 
merit to sail in the bark of mercy, crying out, 
" Our greatest safety is to rest only in the mercy 
of God." The law of God is such a master as to 
require the whole task of duty without mitigation, 
and the mercy of God is so good a benefactor as to 
be capable of pardoning every transgression with- 
out limitation. He who ignorantly trusts in the 
former will feel his angry sword ; and he who, as 
lost and helpless, trusts in the latter, shall be ena- 
bled to touch the golden sceptre. 

Most that perish, it is not their disease which 
kills them, but their physician. They think to 
cure themselves, and this leaves them incurable. 
Good works are so indigent that no man can be 
saved by them, and yet so excellent that no man* 
can go to heaven without them; 

It would be well for Christ's members if it were 
with them as it is with skilful mariners, who have 
their eyes on the stars and their hands at the stern. 
The self-righteous man is too prone to wrap him- 
self in his religious duties ; but this is making bad 
worse, for he who vainly thinks to wipe off old 
scores by his merit does but increase his enormous 
debt. 

" Now we know that what things soever the law 



184 

saith it saith to them who are under the law, that 
every mouth may be stopped." How shall any 
mouth be opened to plead guiltless when God has 
stopped every mouth with its own guilt ? It is in 
vain to stand up and plead innocence before him 
who is all eye, to see the blackest flesh under the 
whitest feathers, and the foulest heart under the 
fairest act. 

Reader, though good works may be our Jacob's 
staff to walk with on earth, yet they cannot be our 
Jacob's ladder to climb to heaven with. To lay 
the salve of our services upon the wound of our 
sins, is as if a man who is stung by a wasp should 
wipe his face with a nettle ; or as if a person 
should busy himself in supporting a tottering fab- 
ric with a burning fire-brand. 

It is the greatest folly to expect profit from that 
which is unprofitable. Could we have done all 
that was commanded us, yet, without the mercy 
of God, all that we could have done would cer- 
tainly undo us. 

When the river fails us in its supplies of water, 
^ve then look up to the clouds for moisture. If 
Christ breathe not into our religious services it is 
impossible to grow under them. That which is 
true in philosophy is not always true in divinity. 
One says, " that the purest elements have the least 
nourishment." But by the doctrines of the other 
the reverse is true. 

It was not the tempered clay that cured the 
blind man, but Christ's anointing his eyes there- 
with. That was more likely, without him, to make 
a seeing man blind than a blind man see. Thus 



185 

though we may receive our spiritual sight in the 
ordinances, yet it is not the ordinances which give 
us sight. 

It was not the troubling of the pool in Bethesda 
that made it healing, but the coming down of the 
angel into it. That man must famish at last who 
always feeds upon the dish instead of the meat. 
There is no instruction to be got from the sun-dial 
of duty, except the Sun of righteousness shine 
upon it. 

Reader, it is dangerous for you to take shelter 
in your righteousness ; for the lightning of divine 
vengeance, which flashes before you, and the curses 
of the law, which thunder around you, may sud- 
denly shake your house about you. As fast as 
you lay on your own plasters a convinced and 
spiritual conscience will rub them off again. Noth- 
ing but the grace of the gospel can perfectly heal 
the wounds which a broken law has made. 
Though at the command of Christ you may let 
down the net, yet it is only by the blessing of 
Christ that you can enclose a profitable draught. 

Carnal people walk by this principle, that much 
is too little for them, and that little is too much for 
God ; but Christian people judge, that as they can 
never see God according to the greatness of his 
majesty, so they can never serve him according to 
the greatness of his mercy. 

S When St. Paul wrote to Philemon concerning 
his receiving his servant Onesimus again, he used 
this argument to prevail with him : " Thou owest 
unto me even thine ownself." Thus man not only 
owes his services, but also himself, to God. No 
16* 



186 

man can merit a reward by paying his debts, much 
less can a sinner merit mercy by being an insol- 
vent debtor. 

The body of a man can as soon labor incessantly 
without food, as the soul of a Christian can live 
continually without ordinances. 

St. Paul's religion was dearer to him than his 
life : u Neither count I my life dear unto myself, 
so that I might finish my course wkh joy." Jesus 
Christ laid down his precious life to secure the pos- 
session of heaven for man ; and shall man refuse 
to lay out his life in pursuing the glories of heaven ? 
Was heaven worth his passion, and shall it not be 
worth our seeking? Alas! what is our sweat to 
his blood ! 

What could Jesus do more than die for us ; and 
what can we do less than live to him? "To 
whom much is given, of them much shall be re- 
quired." 

Can ye, who are Christians, find out all the 
good which has been bestowed upon you, or all the 
evil that has been forgiven in you ? Such is his 
goodness, that he deserves infinitely more from you 
than he demands of you. 

If heaven could be obtained by human endeavors, 
then it must either be of little worth, or they must 
be of great value. But he who puts an estimate upon 
all things according to their true value has said, 
"When ye have done all those things which are 
commanded you, say we are unprofitable servants, 
we have done that which was our duty to do." We 
are not only unprofitable when all is to be done, 
but when all has been done. We are unprofitable 



187 

to God, because he is necessarily and eternally- 
blessed without us ; we are not profitable to our- 
selves, because without him we shall be everlast- 
ingly cursed in ourselves. 

It is our bounden duty to live in obedience, but 
it will prove our utter ruin to live on obedience. 
Heaven is either the gift of mercy, or the reward 
of duty; if the latter, Christ is dead in vain; but 
if the former, we boast in vain. "Fear not, little 
flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give 
you the kingdom." Thus we see that heaven is 
not the product of man's labor, but the token of 
God's good pleasure. 

Many proud sinners will labor hard in the storms 
of life and hurricanes of death, rather than cry 
with Peter, " Lord, save, I perish;" but God is 
determined that every one shall die a malefactor 
who dies without a mediator. 

The dignity of good works does not lie in their 
merit, but in God's grace alone; for were he to 
examine and estimate them according to the rigor 
of the law, and separate from Christ, instead of 
their being valuable as refined gold, they would be 
as despicable as worthless tinsel. Our highest per- 
fections are darkened with the blackest shades of 
imperfection. If Christ be not the foundation of 
our perfection on earth, he will not be the topstone 
of our salvation in heaven. 

Reader, what person would thank you for hold- 
ing a candle to^ssist the light of the sun, or what 
prince would praise you for setting a rough pebble 
in his crown of precious diamonds? How then 



188 

can it be supposed that those works which are 
pregnant with mischief can be pleasing to God ? 

If man lay too much weight upon the pillars 
raised by his own hands, he will pull the building 
upon his own head. God, who cannot lie, has said, 
" So, then, it is not of him that willeth, nor of him 
that runneth, but of God who showeth mercy." It 
is not of him that willeth, though it be never so 
heartily; nor of him that runneth, though it be 
never so hastily. Man's crown of glory is only 
made by the hand of God's mercy. 

Man's working is not the cause of God's grace, 
but God's grace is the cause of his working; the 
creature may do something against grace, but he 
can do nothing without it. It is dangerous to 
hang the weight of eternity upon the slender wires 
of activity. The boundless life of felicity flows 
only from the bottomless love of the deity. 

7. Another principle by which a believer should 
walk is this : that those precious promises which are 
given to insure his happiness, do not supersede 
those directions which are laid down for him to 
seek after happiness. 

"Thus saith the Lord, I will yet for this be 
inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for 
them." As those under the law were not without 
a gospel to save them, so those who are under the 
gospel are not without a law to rule them. There 
is the same impropriety in divorcing those who 
are united, as in uniting those who are divorced. 

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye 
shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto 
you." Continued gospel importunity is the most 



189 

powerful oratory. Man's importunity has no 
meritorious claim upon God ; God has a right to 
the former, but we have no right to the latter. He 
who enables us to find him enjoins us to seek him. 
The Lord delights neither to see us slothful seek- 
ers nor doubtful seekers. 

. He who refuses to hear the voice of Christ shall 
never see the face of Christ. "He that saith he 
abideth in him, ought himself also so to walk even 
as he walked." Then only does the watch of our 
lives move regularly, when the hand of mercy 
winds it up. The law condemns those as crim- 
inals who lay claim to the crown royal, when 
they are not of the blood royal. Many would be 
like Christ in bliss, who would not be like him by 
grace. They are willing to have those promises 
which confirm them in happiness, but dislike 
those precepts which are to regulate their conduct. 

"The Lord is our judge; the Lord is our law- 
giver; the Lord is our king, he will save us." 
Wheresoever the Lord is a priest for pardon, he is 
a prince for dominion. He is always a ruler 
where he is a Saviour. As Jesus Christ is the 
foundation of our happiness, so is he the fountain 
of all our holiness. 

Reader, remember, if Christ be not a refiner's 
fire in you, he will be a consuming fire to you. 
"Those mine enemies, who would not that I 
should reign over them, bring them hither and slay 
them before me." Thus, if you refuse him to 
reign over you, he will refuse you to reign with 
him. 

"As many as walk according to this rule, peace 



190 

be on them." To tread in any other path on 
earth is to miss your way to heaven. If the 
golden chains of love to God do not bind you to 
duty, the iron chain of darkness will bind you 
eternally. He who abuses his liberty in one world 
will forever lose it in another. 

" Blessed are they who do his commandments, 
that they may have right to the tree of life." To 
look upon a promise without a precept, is the high 
road to presumption ; to look upon a precept with- 
out a promise, is the high road to desperation. One 
is like the cork in the net to preserve it from sink- 
ing, and the other is like lead to the net to keep it 
from floating. 

A believer is like the mariner's compass, which 
is governed by the constant heavens, and not by 
the variable winds. Reader, will you make him a 
stone of stumbling whom God has made a stone 
to build upon? Remember, the fire can con- 
sume the dross as well as refine the gold. The 
strength of a rock is seen not only in support- 
ing the house which is built upon it, but in break- 
ing the ships which dash against it. The pillar 
of a cloud was as terrible in the darkness it occa- 
sioned to the Egyptians, as it was glorious in the 
light it gave to the Israelites. 

Whenever Christ takes the burden of guilt from 
a sinner's shoulders, he then lays a yoke of 
obedience upon his neck. Though God can give 
a pardon to the greatest sin, yet he cannot grant a 
patronage to the least sin. * To be lascivious be- 
cause God is gracious, what is this, but to drown 
yourself in that river in which you should wash 



191 

yourself! To live a life of gospel obedience is the 
liberty of God's children, but to give your licen- 
tious appetite the reins is the bondage of Satan's 
slaves. 

That soul was never related to Christ who was 
never devoted to Christ. " Not every one that 
saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the 
kingdom of heaven ; but he that doeth the will of 
my Father who is in heaven." Subjection to the 
will of God is not only a test of our present duty, 
but it is also an evidence of our future glory. To 
expect to see God in heaven, and not to seek him 
on earth, is as foolish as if a husbandman should 
throw his plough into the hedge, and then look for 
a rich harvest. 

Sitting birds are the fowler's marks, while those 
which soar as the eagle are in safety. When 
men are out of the way of their worldly callings it 
is easy to call them out of their heavenly way. 
God works with and without means; with, that 
man should not be indolent, and without, that he 
should not be self-confident. Jacob makes his 
prayers to an heavenly Father, and yet presents 
his gifts to an angry brother. David went out 
against Goliah in the name of the God of Israel, 
and yet repaired to the brook for his .smooth 
stones. 

The sword of Joshua must go with the prayers 
of Moses, and the prayers of Moses accompany 
the sword of Joshua. Had they fought and not 
prayed, they would have obtained no victory, 
because God will not be neglected; had they 



192 

prayed and not fought, they would have obtained 
no victory, because he will not be tempted. 

" This is he who came by water and blood, even 
Jesus Christ." He did not come by water with- 
out any blood, or by blood without any water. 
He came not to pardon and to leave the soul 
unpurged, or to purge and to leave it unpardoned. 
Wheresoever the death of Christ clears a soul from 
guilt, the spirit of Christ cleanses that soul from 
filth. A man may be justified without imme- 
diate glorification, but not without concomitant 
sanctification. The law by which God rules 
us^is as dear to him as the gospel by which he 
saves us. 

Many would use faith as an eye to see with, but 
not as a foot to walk with. They look for the 
crown of victory, but are unwilling to fight the 
good fight of faith. That faith which sets men to 
oppose their internal enemies, sets God also to 
oppose their external adversaries. Prayer is the 
midwife of the promises. The promises are wells 
of comfort to the church, and believing prayer is 
the vessel to draw the water out of the wells. 

8. Another principle by which a believer should 
walk is this : that it is dangerous dressing him- 
self for another world by the looking-glass of this 
ivorld. 

u Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil." 
Let them be never so mighty, they are not to be 
feared ; let them be never so many, they are not to 
be followed. 

Satan's herd of swine is larger than Christ's 
flock of sheep. To infer that way to be the truest 



193 

which is the largest, is to conclude on the fineness 
of the cloth by the broadness of the list. 

The innumerable crowds of people are too much 
like the droves of cattle which go to the slaughter. 
" Though the number of the children of Israel be 
as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved." 
The whole piece belongs to the devil, but God cuts 
off a remnant for himself. There are many birds 
of prey to one bird of paradise. Pebbles lie abun- 
dantly in the streets, when pearls are difficult to 
be found. 

The Scripture not only presents us with an 
account of the purity of those who shall be saved, 
but also with the smallness of their number. 
" Strait is the gate and narrow is the way which 
leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." 
The Persians thought a crooked nose a great 
ornament, because seated on the face of their 
emperor; and the whole court would go awry, 
because such a neck was upon the shoulders of 
Alexander. 

Great men's vices are more imitated than poor 
men's graces. The ill humors of the head may 
consume the vital parts of the body. Inferiors 
love to go the way which superiors are wont to 
go. The actions of their rulers are too much the 
rule of their actions. Such people conceive by the 
eye, like Jacob's sheep, which brought forth their 
lambs suitable to the color of the rods. 

Those who follow after others in sinning are in 

danger of following them in suffering. Alas ! then 

the greatness of the multitude will not extinguish 

the flame. The number of those immortal fagots 

17 



194 

will but magnify the fury of the fire. "Many are 
called, but few are chosen." It is not many are 
chosen and few called, but many are called and 
few are chosen. 

Sinners are certainly the greatest company, but 
they are also the worst company. Though the 
nature of believers be the greatest, yet their num- 
bers are the smallest. 

Flavius Vopiscus said, "that all the names of 
the good emperors might be engraven on a little 
ring." I will not say there are not any good men 
who are great, but I will say that there are not 
many great men who are good. 

The trees of righteousness are thinly planted in 
the world's orchard. As in one righteous man 
there are many sins, so to one righteous man there 
are many sinners. "Our fathers have eaten sour 
grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge." 
The generality of persons will rather walk in the 
way that most people go than in the way that the 
best go. They are like dead fish, which swim 
down the stream whithersoever it runs; or like 
the water, which takes the figure of the vessel in 
which it is contained. But Vox populi is some- 
times Vox diaboli ; that is, "The voice of the 
people is sometimes the voice of the devil." What- 
soever is engraven upon the seal is imprinted upon 
the wax. 

If we would not have the people of the world to 
be our leaders, we shall be sure to have them our 
troublers. If they cannot seduce us into an evil 
way, they will oppose us in a good way. If they 
cannot scorch us with their fire, they will try to 



195 

blacken us with their smoke. They will speak 
evil of us because we run not to the same excess 
of riot with them. Because we refuse to play the 
fool with them, they will say we are mad. Those 
who would arrive where the righteous now are 
should be found in the road in which they once 
were. "Be ye followers of them, who through 
faith and patience inherit the promises." What is 
the reason that there are so many scribbling pro- 
fessors in the world, but that they write after such 
imperfect copies ! 

The best of men are but men at the best. It is 
better to imitate an evil man in that which is good, 
than a good man in that which is evil. St. Paul 
said, "Be ye followers of me," (but this exhorta- 
tion hath its limitation,) "even as I am of Christ." 
Where he follows Christ, there we must follow 
him : but if a Paul forsake Christ, we may forsake 
even Paul. 

That was a good saying of Sir Thomas More : 
" I will not pin my faith upon any man's sleeve, 
because I know not whither he will carry it." 
Believers have not only infirmities which are nat- 
ural, but they have also such as are sinful. Noah 
was no sooner delivered from a deluge of water 
but he was drowned in a deluge of wine. 

The failings of Christians do not flow from a 
want of grace, but from a weakness in grace ; not 
from their depravity of spirit, but from the corrup- 
tions of the flesh. As they are not what they have 
been, so they are not altogether what tjiey would 
be. Those roses which are now in blossom shall 
hereafter be fully blown, and the stars which are 



196 

yet concealed under a cloud shall be seen in a clear 
sky. 

Those are but suspicious Christians who will 
take in all that believers do upon the authority of 
believers. The comment must be followed no fur- 
ther than while it agrees with the text. 

He is a rotten professor who says in his heart, 
" Why may not I be drunk as well as Noah, and 
commit adultery as well as David? " Did you ever 
hear of any who put out their eyes because others 
were smitten with blindness ; or of any who cut 
off their legs because others went on crutches ? 

But if you have sinned as David and Noah did, 
you should also mourn as they did. Their acts 
are not for our imitation, but for our caution. 
They are not land-marks to direct travellers, but 
sea-marks to warn mariners. If a man find a 
piece of gold covered with dust, will he preserve 
the dirt and throw away the gold ? 

" You have heard of the patience of Job." Yes, 
and of his impatience also. Instead of cursing 
the sin with which he was born, he cursed the day 
in which he was born. 

You have heard of the meekness of Moses, and 
yet this even thread was not without its knots. 
While he is bringing water out of the rock he is 
also fetching fire out of his own heart. 

Peter not only forsook his Lord, but also for- 
swore him. Who would ever have suspected that 
he who had his name from an immovable rock 
should have proved such a shaken reed ! Holy 
men may be good witnesses at the bar, but they 
are not always good judges on the bench. 



197 

• 

Reader, if you turn not your back on Egypt, 
you may fall short of the land of Canaan. 

It was formerly the complaint of a certain per- 
son, " that the greatest thieves did execution upon 
the least." But when God comes to pass sentence 
he will bring every sinner to the bar. His laws 
are not like spiders' webs, that keep the little flies 
prisoners, but which the greater will break with 
smaller struggles. Then he will set the saddle 
upon the back of the right horse. 

Though man may have many under him upon 
earth, yet he has one in heaven who is above him. 
" The Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto 
him, Where art thou?" Not where wast thou? 
but where art thou ? Oh, how quickly hast thou 
mortgaged that inheritance which I so lately set- 
tled on thee in paradise! " The woman whom 
thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the 
tree, and I did eat." Because she put it into his 
hands, was that any reason why he should put 
it into his mouth ? 

The monsters of sin are so hateful when they 
are brought forth, that we are unwilling to own 
them ourselves, therefore lay them at the doors of 
others. 

The stable mountains are not so firm but that 
they may be removed by fearful earthquakes. 
Those saints who have been as the greatest stars 
or suns have at times had their sad eclipses. 

9. Another principle by which a believer should 
walk is this : that wheresoever sin proves hateful 
it shall not prove hurtful. 

What an apology doth a sorrowful Saviour 
IT* 



198 

make for his sleeping saints ! " The spirit is wil- 
ling, but the flesh is weak." Take a carnal man, 
and what he can do, that he will not ; take a Chris- 
tian man, and what he would do, that he cannot. 

Now impotency shall be pitied when obstinacy 
shall be punished. God has mercy for his own 
cannots, but none for the devil's will-nots. Adam's 
want was rather in his will than his power, but a 
saint's want is rather in his power than in his will. 
"O that my ways were directed to keep thy stat- 
utes." A saint's will begins where his work ends. 

"Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief." 
Lord, I see, enlighten my darkness; — I hear, but 
cure my deafness ; — I move, but quicken my dul- 
ness; — I desire, but help my unwillingness; — I 
remember, but remove my forgetfulness. 

In playing over a tune upon an instrument, a 
single string may jar and slip, and yet the main 
be musical. It would be folly indeed to think our 
fields had no corn in them because there is chaff 
about the wheat, or that the ore had no gold in it 
because there is dross among it. In heaven there 
is service alone without any sin ; in hell there is sin 
alone without service ; but on earth there is sin 
and service in the same man, as there is light and 
shade in the same picture. 

Christian reader, to condemn your evil is good, 
but to condemn your good is evil. Here believers 
are like the Israelites, who in their darkest night 
had a pillar of fire, and in their clearest day a pil- 
lar of a cloud. Above us there" is light without 
any darkness; below us there is darkness without 



199 ■ 

any light; but in this world it is neither day nor 
night, but in the evening time it shall be light. 

Though the lowest believer be above the power 
of sin ; yet the highest believer is not above the 
presence of sin. It is in a living Christian that 
lust is to be mortified, but it is only in a dying 
Christian that it is to be destroyed. 

When the body and the soul are separated by 
mortality, sin and the soul will be separated to 
eternity. Though a forced subjection be sufficient 
to satisfy a tyrant, yet it is only a ready obedience 
that proves homage to a king. 

Sin never ruins but where it reigns. It is not 
destroying where it is disturbing, The more evil 
it receives from us, the less evil it does to us. It is 
only a murderer where it is a governor. 

The rose is a fragrant flower, though it be sur- 
rounded with piercing thorns. The passover was 
a feast, though the Israelites ate it with bitter herbs. 

There is always too much of the wild olive in 
those who are ingrafted into the true olive. Our 
graces are our best jewels, but they do not yield 
their brightest lustre in this world. The moon, 
when she shines brightest, has her spots ; and the 
fire, when it burns the hottest, hath its smoke. 

" I said in my haste, I am cut off from before 
thine eyes, nevertheless thou heardst the voice of 
my supplication." Who would have thought 
those prayers should ever have had any prevalency 
in God's ear, which were mixed with so much 
infidelity in the petitioner's heart ? 

Sin is an enemy at the Christian's back, but not 
a friend in his bosom. Although believers should 



200 

be mournful because they have infirmities, yet they 
should be thankful because they are but infirmi- 
ties. It is true they have sin in them, and that 
should make them sorrowful ; but it is as true that 
they have a Saviour for them, and that should 
make them joyful. It is not the interposition of a 
cloud, but the departure of the sun, which consti- 
tutes a night. 

Take the purest believer in the world, and you 
will find him fuller of sin than he is of prayer. 
There is too much of the earth in his most heav- 
enly employments. But as Alexander's painter 
could find a finger to conceal the scar on his mas- 
ter's face, so when Jesus Christ draws the picture 
of the saint's excellency he can find a covering for 
all the scars of his infirmities. 

The Saviour looks over that which is his own, 
and overlooks that which is his people's. Where 
there is no sin allowed by them there shall be 
grains of allowance to them. He will not throw 
away his pearls for every speck of dirt which may 
be on them. 

Though Christ honors grace in its maturity, yet 
he owns it in its minority. "O thou of little faith, 
wherefore didst thou doubt?" Poor Peter had 
faith enough to keep him from drowning, but not 
enough to keep him from doubting. The least 
buds draw sap from the root as well as the greatest 
branches. Though one star exceed another in 
magnitude, yet both are alike seated in the heavens. 
Though one member of the body be larger than 
another, yet each hath an equal conjunction with 
the head. 



201 

The conduct of a Christian may sometimes be 
spotted with infirmity when the heart is sound in 
the love of sanctity. Jacob halted, and yet was 
blessed. As his blessing did not take away his 
halting, so his halting did not keep away his 
blessing. 

Hagar will have a room in Sarah's house till 
death turns her out of doors. As death leaves the 
body soulless, so it leaves the soul sinless. M For 
if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted ac- 
cording to that a man hath, and not according to 
that he hath not." God doth not expect the cock 
to run with pleasant water when there is none put 
in the cistern. 

The heavenly Bridegroom will not put out a 
believer's candle because of the dimness of its 
burning, nor overshadow a believer's sun because 
of the weakness of its shining. 

Though that vice may be found in us for which 
he might justly damn us, yet that grace is to be 
found in him by which he can easily save us. He 
comes not with water to extinguish the fire, but 
with wind to disperse the smoke. 

" The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination 
unto the Lord ;" because the incense savors of the 
hand that offers it. Not only the wicked man's 
designs against the godly are sinful, but all his 
prayers to God are also hateful. Not so with the 
righteous, for " the prayer of the upright is his 
delight." If the vessel of the heart be clean, he 
will taste of the sweet wine which is drawn from 
it. " O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, 
in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy 



202 

countenance, let me hear thy voice, for sweet is 
thy voice, and thy countenance is comely." 

10. Another principle that a Christian should 
walk by is this : that inward purity is the ready 
road to outward plenty. 

That is but an hell-made proverb — plain dealing 
is a jewel, but he who adheres to it shall die a 
beggar. 

Though religion be against our ease, yet it is 
not against our interest. O what rich clusters of 
grapes hang all along our way to Canaan ! Reli- 
gion is so bountiful a master that none need be 
afraid of becoming its servant. " But seek ye first 
the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all 
these things shall be added unto you." Our work 
below is the best done when our work for above is 
the first done. He who has most of heaven in 
his heart has not always the least of earth in his 
hand. 

u The young lions lack, and suffer hunger." 
The old lions will have for them, if it be to be 
had. "But they that seek the Lord shall not want 
any good thing." As they would feel no evil 
thing within, so they shall want no good thing 
without. 

He that freely opens the upper will never wholly 
close the nether springs. There shall be no silver 
lacking in Benjamin's sack while Joseph has it to 
throw in. Grace is not such a beggarly visitant 
as will not pay its own way. When the best of 
beings is adored the best of blessings are enjoyed. 

While the rough Esau of this world hunts after 
the venison, the smooth Jacob shall carry away the 



203 

blessing. M For the Lord God is a sun and shield; 
the Lord will give grace and glory, and no good 
thing will he withhold from them that walk up- 
rightly." Why need a saint fear darkness when 
he has such a sun to guide him? or dread dangers 
when he has such a shield to guard him 1 

O Christian, the God whom you serve is so excel- 
lent that no good can be added to him, and so 
infinite that no good can be diminished in him ! 
He makes happy, and yet is not the less happy ; 
he shows mercy to the full, and yet remains full 
of mercy. 

Sinners look upon times of obedience as times 
of hinderance. They trust to their own toiling, 
and not to God's undertaking. They carry on 
such a trade for the earth as makes them miscarry 
in their merchandise for heaven. Though every 
rich man be not truly godly, yet every godly man 
is truly rich. 

The sun can as easily diffuse its beams over the 
whole world as upon a single field. What God 
receives from man makes him no richer, and what 
man receives from God makes him none the poorer. 
His goodness may be imparted, but cannot be im- 
paired. 

Christian reader, if the fountain be still running, 
why should you fear to fill your vessel? " The 
Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." The 
sheep of Christ may change their pasture, but 
they shall never want a pasture. " Is not the life 
more than meat, and the body than raiment ?" If 
he grant unto us great things, shall we distrust 
him for small things? He who has given us 



204 

heavenly beings will also give us earthly blessings. 
The great husbandman never overstocked his own 
commons. 

Jehu, who only served God in hypocrisy, had an 
external kingdom ; and shall those who serve him 
from a principle of inward purity be put off with- 
out a heavenly kingdom ? If God valued coun- 
terfeit coin so much, how highly will he esteem the 
true gold ! If he drop so much into a vessel of 
wrath, what will he do into a vessel of mercy ! If 
he give so much to a bond-slave of hell, what will 
he do for a free-born child of heaven ! " Have I 
been a wilderness unto Israel, a land of darkness V 
God was not a wilderness to them when they were 
in the wilderness. When they wanted bread, he 
gave them manna ; when they wanted water, he 
opened a rock; and though they had no new ap- 
parel, yet their old garments wore not out, but as 
their bodies grew so their clothes grew. Thus 
they were never better off than when they were 
ready to give up all as lost. 

O how good is a believer's God, who not only 
shortens his pilgrimage for him, but also sweetens 
it to him ! Had Christians too much of temporal 
things they might care too little for spiritual things. 
Daniel appeared better with his homely pulse than 
the Babylonians with all their royal diet. Some 
have rowed safely in a narrow river and been 
drowned afterward in a large sea. A little is suf- 
ficient to him who with it enjoys God's all-suffi- 
ciency. 

Naked godliness is so full a spring that it will 
not let the Christian perish for want of water. 



205 

" Let the people praise thee, O God, let all the people 
praise thee." (What then?) " Then shall the 
earth yield her increase, and God, even our own 
God, shall bless us." Our unthankfulness is the 
cause of the earth's unfruitfulness. While man 
is blessing God for his mercies, he is blessing man 
with his mercies. 

Some are afraid of religion, because they sup- 
pose they shall lose all their earthly mammon 
while they are seeking heavenly manna. They 
think that piety is the greatest enemy to prosper- 
ity. Could they but reap profit by praying, they 
would be found more at prayer. Ignorant world- 
lings look upon gain as their greatest godliness, 
and not on godliness as their greatest gain. But a 
golden plaster is a poor application for a wounded 
conscience. When the worm of carnality is gnaw- 
ing at the root of religious performances, all the 
formalist's blooming hopes will fade and die away 
at last. 

" Godliness is profitable to all things, having the 
promise of the life that now is, and of that which 
is to come." Who knows how many rich produc- 
tions there are in the pleasure garden of religion ! 
There is mellow fruit in it for every day in the 
year. 

u Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, and 
delighteth greatly in his commandments ; wealth 
and riches shall be in his house, and his righteous- 
ness endure th forever." All worldly gain, while 
we live we may lose it, and when we die we must 
leave it; but " In keeping God's commandments 
there is great reward." There is a reward of 
18 



206 

God's approbation in life, of his confirmation in 
death, and of his complete salvation in glory. 

In earthly services the master enjoys the profit, 
but in religious services the servant enjoys it. 
"And the ark of the Lord continued in the house 
of Obed-Edom, the Gittite, three months, and the 
Lord blessed Obed-Edom and all his household." 
The ark was not blessed for the sake of his house- 
hold, but his household was blessed for the sake 
of the ark. The ark of God always pays for its 
entertainment, wheresoever it dwells. 

Many will side with religion while they can live 
upon it, and desert it when it must live upon them. 
But that saying is yet true : " Godliness with con- 
tentment is great gain." It is only the Christian 
man who is the truly contented man ; and what 
are our enjoyments without contentment ? What 
is a great possession if wedded to great vexation ? 
Wicked men make this world their treasure, and 
God makes it their torment. When they want 
estates they are troubled for them; when they 
have estates they are troubled with them; and 
when they would drink of the river God disturbs 
the water. 

Reader, if you know nothing of Christ, I wish 
you to remember that when you come to die you 
will find religion necessary, and while you live 
you will find it profitable. The purest honey is 
gathered out of the hive of holiness. The ways 
of iniquity are the ways of beggary. It is but 
reasonable that God should fall out with them in 
the course of his providence, who fall off from 
him in the course of their obedience. 



207 

In wisdom's right hand are length of days, and 
in her left hand riches and honor. Look to which 
hand yon will, and yon will find it full. 

11. Another principle that a believer should 
walk by is this : that all the time which God allows 
him is but enough for the work which he allots 
him. 

" Man that is born of a woman is of few days 
and full of trouble." Nature's womb sometimes 
proves nature's tomb. 

With many it is ebb water before the tide be at 
the full. The lamps of their lives are wasted 
almost as soon as they are lighted. The sand of 
their hour-glass is run out when they think it is 
but newly turned. 

When men feel sickness arresting them, then 
they fear death is approaching. But we begin to 
die as soon as ever we begin to live. Every man's 
passing-bell hangs in his own steeple. Take him 
in his four elements, of earth, air, fire, and water. 
In the earth he is as fleeting dust ; in the air he 
is as a disappearing vapor ; in the water he is a 
breaking bubble ; and in the fire he is as con- 
suming smoke. Many think not of living any 
holier till they can live no longer : but one to-day 
is worth two to-morrow. 

Reader, you know not how soon the sails of 
your life may be rolled up, or how nigh you are to 
your eternal haven ; and if you have not Jesus as 
your pilot within you, you will suffer an eternal 
shipwreck. 

Poor soul, what will you do if you begin to die 
naturally before you begin to live spiritually? How 



208 

will you look, if the tabernacle of nature be taken 
down before the temple of grace be raised up] 
What must you feel, if your paradise be laid waste 
before the tree of life be set in it? How can you 
bear to give up the ghost before you have received 
the Holy Ghost ? Eternal will be your darkness, 
if the sun of your life set within you before the 
Sun of righteousness shine upon you. Woe be to 
you if your body be turned into the earth before 
your soul be fit to be taken into heaven. If the 
second birth have no place in you, the second death 
will assuredly have power over you. 

One excellently compares our life to a day. In- 
fancy is the day-dawn, youth is the sunrising, full 
growth is the sun's meridian, and old age is the 
setting sun. By the light of the day the Lord 
helps us to do the work of the day. " O that thou 
hadst known in this thy day the things that belong 
to thy peace ! but now they are hid from thine 
eyes." O how just is it that they should miss of 
heaven at last who never seek for heaven till the 
last ! How reasonable is it that God should deny 
them his grace to repent who abuse his grace to 
sin ! 

It is a maxim that everything hath a principle 
to return to its own source. The rivers, which 
have their efflux from the sea, have their reflux to 
the sea. Out of the dust man was formed, and 
therefore into the dust man will be turned. Aged 
reader, how much of your life is gone, and yet 
how little of God is known ! How can you appear 
before God, if you are not found in God ? Your 
being ancient in days will be no plea for you before 



209 

• 

the Ancient of days. If you have not Christ the 
hope of glory in you, you must have Christ the 
God of glory against you. If you partake not of 
what Christ has done, you will be eternally 
undone. 

O you fresh picture of youth, how lovely will 
you appear if hung up in heaven's palace ! And 
will you spend your youthful life in following 
youthful lusts? Do you not know that the blos- 
som is as subject to be nipped as the flower to be 
withered, and the spark to be extinguished as the 
flame to be consumed ? Veins full of blood may 
be emptied by an accident as soon as those that are 
leakish with old age. As there are none too old 
for eternity, so there are none too young for mor- 
tality. In Golgotha there are skulls of all sizes. 
Tell me, how will you live when you die, if you 
are dead while you live? Every step that your 
body takes is towards the earth ; O that every step 
your soul takes may be towards heaven ! 

The vine that bringeth forth no grapes shall 
be cut down as well as that which bringeth forth 
wild grapes. O how sad is it to be taken out 
of the world before~we are taken off from the 
world ! u To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden 
not your hearts." We have but a day wherein we 
are called to repent, and therefore should repent 
while it is called to-day. He is the deafest adder 
"who stops his ears to the voice of the sweetest 
charmer. The Lord hath made a promise to late 
repentance, but he hath not made a promise of 
late repentance. If the heart of man be not now 
thawed it may be forever frozen. 
18* 



210 

* 

A pardon is sometimes given to a thief at the 
gallows, but he who trusts to that sometimes hath 
a rope for his wages. " Boast not thyself of to- 
morrow, for thou knowest not what a day may 
bring forth." Man is such a purblind creature 
that he cannot unerringly see a day before him. 
O see the end of one day, before you glory in the 
beginning of another. 

Many a man's days deceive him; they pass 
away like a shadow by moonshine, which appears 
longest when the moon is lowest. You may not 
have half a day to live, when you think that you 
have not lived out half your days. 

" The night cometh wherein no man can work." 
The grave is a bed to rest in, but not a shop to 
trade in. There is no setting up under ground for 
those who have neglected their souls above ground. 

When the soul takes her flight from her loving 
mate the body, they shall meet no more till the 
great day of retribution. " Behold, now is the 
accepted time ; behold, now is the day of salva- 
tion." Opportunities are for eternity, but not to 
eternity. Mercy's clock doth not strike at the 
sinner's beck. Where the -nneans of grace are 
greatest, there they are often the shortest. You 
may be unhappy all your days for despising the 
happiness of these days. 

That was a sad cry of one, "My life is done, 
but my work is undone." "Go to the ant, thou 
sluggard, consider her ways and be wise." Though 
the summer of life be but just opening, yet the 
winter of death is approaching ; and how can you 



211 

live in that winter if there be no honey in your 
hive in this summer? 

" Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call 
ye upon him while he is near." O young person, 
the sufferings of eternal death are but the conse- 
quence of your wilful contempt of eternal life. 
Methinks the worth of such a heavenly pearl as 
Christ should sparkle in your eyes. O that you 
may walk in the light of that sun, by the beams 
of which you may see your way to heaven ! No 
disease is more fatal than that which stimulates 
you to reject the restoring medicine. What a sad 
thing is it that such rich mines of grace should be 
opened, and not a penny of this treasure fall to 
your share ! Come, I trust you are not gone so 
far in sin as to be beyond all hope of returning. A 
returning prodigal may yet meet with a welcome 
reception. The eternal Father is yet a tender 
Father. He delights to see a repenting prodigal, 
— to hear a mourning Ephraim, and help a sink- 
ing Peter. 

How much time has God bestowed upon man 
before ever he has returned any of it to him again ! 
It is good to have an ark prepared before that 
deluge come in which you may be overwhelmed. 
Remember that God can as easily turn you into 
the dust as he could take you out of the dust. 
Delays are no more numerous than they are dan- 
gerous. Before you can do good you must be 
made good; for who will look for water from a 
drained river, or that sweet grapes should grow 
upon a withered vine ? 

For a man to make his soul's concern his last 



212 

concern, what is this, but as if an husbandman 
should be putting in his plough when he should 
be thrusting in his sickle? Know, O man, that 
there is but one heaven ; miss of that, and where 
will you take up your lodging but in hell ? A 
vicious man's life expires like a tallow candle, 
leaving an ungrateful savor behind it ; but a gra- 
cious man's life expires like a wax candle, that 
leaves a sweet perfume behind it. 

12. Another principle that a Christian will walk 
by is this : that there can never be too great an 
estrangement from defilement 

He who now gives way to the least sin may be 
given up to the greatest sins. We are never far 
enough from lust while we are on earth, or near 
enough to Christ while we are out of heaven. A 
sound eye cannot endure the least spot. O, stand 
off from the devil's mark, unless you would be hit 
by his arrows ! 

" Abstain from all appearance of evil." The 
closing in with the appearance of evil is the first 
step to the accomplishment of the most enormous 
evil. A spark of fire will easily catch in a box of 
tinder. A picture in the glass may inflame as 
well as the picture in the face. Little streams will 
find a passage to the great sea. Christian reader, 
restriction is a good chain to transgression. Why 
should you venture on slippery places, who can 
scarcely stand upon the firmest ground ? 

As faith is a grace that feeds all the rest, so fear 
is a grace that guards all the rest. That man who 
is the most watchful is the least sinful. He may 
quickly be cast down by a sinful temptation, who is 



213 

already prepared for it by a sinful occasion. Who 
will pity that man whose house is blown up. with 
powder, if he keep his barrels in the chimney 
corner ? 

Such is the monstrous wickedness of men that 
they use spurs and whips to that horse who of 
himself rushes too fast into the battle. Though 
the streams and currents of their own lusts carry 
them too swiftly already, yet they hoist up sails to 
entertain the devil's winds. But such have a title 
good enough for hell, without so much trouble to 
make it surer. 

The fowler spreads his net, but the wings of the 
bird carry her into it. Do you murmur for want 
of liberty, and yet surrender yourself to slavery? 
If you would not step into the harlot's house, you 
should not go by the harlot's door. If you would 
not gather the forbidden fruit, then beware how 
you look on the tree where it grows. 

To pray against temptations, and yet to rush 
into occasions, is to thrust your fingers into the fire, 
and then pray that they might not be burnt. The 
fable saith, that the butterfly inquired of the owl 
how she should do with the candle which had 
singed her wings. The owl counselled her not so 
much as to behold its smoke. If you hold the 
stirrup no wonder if Satan get into the saddle. 

The fort-royal of your souls is in danger of 
a surprise while the out-works of your senses are 
unguarded. Your eyes, which may be floodgates 
to pour out tears, should not be casements to let in 
lusts. A careless eye is an index to a graceless 
heart. Remember, the whole world died by a 



214 

wound in the eye. The eyes of a Christian should 
be like sunflowers, which are opened to no blaze 
but that of the sun. 

To keep the eyes and not regard the ears, is as 
if a man should shut the casements of his house 
and leave the doors open to the thief. The ear is 
an instrument that the devil loves to play upon. 
As your ears are joined to your head on earth, so 
they should be fastened to your head in heaven. 

Your tongue, which should be tuned for God's 
glory, should not be turned to your own shame. 
By the striking of those clappers we guess at the 
metal of the bell. " Thou art a Galilean, thy 
speech betrayeth thee." A soul without its watch 
is like a city without its wall, exposed to the 
inroad of all its enemies. We need a sun to dispel 
our darkness, and a shield to repel our dangers. 
The earth is not so apt to be overrun with thorns as 
the mind would with sins, did not our great Gar- 
dener prevent their growth. 

Those who would not fall into the river should 
beware how they approach too near to its banks. 
He that crushes the egg need not fear the flight of 
the bird. He who would not drink of the wine of 
wrath, let him not touch the cup of pleasure. He 
who would not hear the passing-bell of eternal 
death should not finger the rope of sin. A person 
who carries gunpowder about him can never stand 
too far from the fire. If we accompany sin one 
mile it will compel us to go twain. It swells like 
Elijah's cloud, from the size of a man's hand to 
such an expansion as to cover the whole sky. 

" Let him that thinketh he stands take heed lest 



215 

he fall." You will quickly lose your standing if 
you arc fearless of falling. He that abstains from 
no lawful thing may soon be brought to commit 
something that is sinful. Many a man hath been 
thrown out of the saddle of profession by riding 
with too slack a rein of circumspection. 

Little sins are not like an inch of candle, which 
soon expires ; but they resemble a train of powder, 
which takes fire from corn to corn, till at last the 
barrel be burst asunder. An honest matron will 
blush to be found in the dress of a wanton woman. 
Reader, will you invite that into the chamber of 
your heart Avhich brought Christ into the manger? 
Is your house so largely built that you can afford' 
that an arbor which you know to be a traitor? 

u Hating even the garment spotted by the flesh." 
Those garments which are defiled with the leprosy 
of sin must either be cleaned by the priest, or 
burnt without the camp. If a sick man dis- 
like the cup out of which he took his nauseous 
physic, how should he refuse and abhor that 
which is filled with deadly poison? A believer 
disbands those auxiliaries who have assisted his 
adversaries. 

If Achan handle the golden wedge, his next 
work will be to steal it. If Ruth lie at the feet of 
Boaz, her next remove may be into his bed. If 
you take the devil's cup into your hand, it is to be 
feared that you will quickly lift it to your head. 

13. Another principle by which a believer should 
walk is this : that ichatsoever is temporally enjoyed 
should be spiritually improved. 

All that a believer receives is from the hand of 



216 

divine bounty, and employed to the end of the 
divine glory. Others make an earthly use of heav- 
enly things, but he makes a heavenly use of earthly 
things. God can put a golden bias into a leaden 
bowl, that it may run true to him who made it. 
The more he oils our wheels on earth, the swifter 
our chariots move to heaven. Grace can teach 
how to plume the wings of riches, and instruct us 
how to lay up that treasure in heaven which 
comes out of the bowels of this earth. 

There is a divine chemistry which can extract 
the purest spirits out of the most gross and fecu- 
lent matter. The beast on the altar differs not 
in kind from the beast at the slaughter. There is 
a lawful craft of coining our money over again, and 
adding the Image and superscription of God to 
that which is Caesar's. It is said of the philoso- 
pher's stone, that it turns whatsoever it touches 
into gold. 

Whatever mill a saint has going in the world, 
he will spread the sails of it for the wind of divine 
approbation, that it may move round for God's 
glory. When God sets him up above the world, 
then he holds up God to the world. 

It is unequal to be hot in our prayers and cold 
in our praises. Many will cry aloud, "Give us 
this day our daily bread," and wlysper out, " Hal- 
lowed be thy name." This is like opening our 
windows to admit the light, and then shutting 
them closely to keep out the sun. We too 
frequently lay our pipes to convey the water into 
our cisterns, and then turn the cock against the 
spring. 



217 

It cannot be praiseworthy to remember God in 
our necessities, and then forget him in our pros- 
perity. His kindness is as proper a ground for 
praising him as his promise is for praying to him. 
If under our miseries we can seek God with dili- 
gence, then under the weight of his mercies we 
should praise him with cheerfulness. Mercies are 
such gifts as advance our debts. It is as unpleas- 
ant to see a Christian in an ungrateful temper as it 
is unnatural to see Pharaoh's lean kine in a fat 
pasture. 

If God give us any enjoyment, it is for his own en- 
tertainment. Well may those hands reap the fruits 
which set the plants. Is he not worthy to feed at 
that table which his own hands have spread? 
Where former blessings have been acknowledged 
there future blessings shall be enjoyed. He shall 
never want mercy who does not wanton with 
mercy. When man fights against God with his 
gifts, he fights against himself with his own sins. 

Take a wicked man, and you will not find him 
led to God by that which comes from God. He, 
like the sea, turns the sweetest showers into the 
saltest waters. The greater substance he has from 
God, the less service has God from him. Like the 
moon, he is furthest from the sun when he shines 
with the greatest splendor. The more a dunghill 
has the sunbeams upon it the more noisome is the 
effluvia arising from it. 

Sinners, instead of having vials full of odors, 

have hearts full of evils. How many are there 

who are highly above others in false greatness, and 

yet are greatly below them in real goodness ! To 

19 



218 

turn from God while he is blessing them is worse 
than to turn from him when he is smiting them. 

" Jesus answered, Many good works have I 
showed you from my Father ; for which of these 
good works do ye stone me V } He showed them his 
Father's goodness, and they stoned him for the 
goodness he had showed. They were like iEsop's 
snake, which lay still in the frost, but stung him 
who laid it in his bosom. If it be a sin to return 
unto man evil for evil, what must it be to return 
unto God evil for good ? 

When we taste the generous wine we should not 
forget the tree whereon the grapes grew. When 
we are refreshed by the rolling streams, it would 
be well to remember the spring from whence they 
arose. A load of earth has crushed many a man 
to death. The richer some professors have been 
without, the poorer they have been within. 

Notwithstanding the pious pretences of the 
Romish Conclave, the Indians have brought more 
of the Spaniards to worship their gold than ever 
the Spaniards brought of the Indians to worship 
their^God. The former have made more infidels 
than the latter have Christians. 

Outward mercies to our bodies are divine baits 
which are sometimes laid to catch our souls. God 
tries the vessel with water that he may fill it with 
generous wine. Every stream leads an observant 
believer to the fountain head. The more God's 
hand is enlarged in blessing him, the more his 
heart is enlivened in blessing God. 

Where the sun of mercy shines hottest there the 
fruits of grace grow fastest. In the book of nature 



219 

we may read the God of nature. The creature is 
like a tuned instrument, and the Christian's hand 
can strike it to the Redeemer's praise. 

As a saint has a heart to seek God in what he 
has promised, so he has a hand to serve him with 
what he possesses. The greater the wages are 
which he previously receives the better is the work 
which he performs. If he has five talents com- 
mitted to him he gets five more. If he has one he 
improves none. The more a merchant adventures 
at sea the greater are the returns expected at land. 
The tallest vines should always bear the sweetest 
grapes, because they lie most open to the sun. It 
is sacrilege to possess the largest crops, and return 
to God the smallest tythes of gratitude. 

There is a requital of evil for evil, this is blam- 
able ; of good for good, this is laudable ; of evil 
for good, this is abominable ; of good for evil, and 
this is admirable. 

The April showers, which invigorate the herbage 
and beautify the spring, do likewise bring forth 
many offensive, croaking frogs. 

Man should resemble the rivers, which, as they 
receive their rise from the sea, are restlessly return- 
ing to their source. Who is so unworthy of God's 
blessing as man ; and who is so worthy of man's 
praises as God ? 

Beloved, we have not longer enjoyed the bless- 
ings of the earth than we have abused them ; 
which gives too much cause to fear, that though 
the child of mercy, like Jacob, has put forth his 
hand, yet the child of judgment, like Esau, may 
supersede him. 



220 

The devout Bernard observes, " that ingrati- 
tude is a parching wind, which will dry up the 
springs of bounty and dews of clemency." 

Man was formed the last of the creation, that he 
might contemplate upon God through every crea- 
ture. Beloved, when you survey the spacious 
firmament, and behold it hung with such resplen- 
dent bodies, then think, that if the suburbs be so 
beautiful what must the city be ! What is the 
footstool he makes to the throne whereon he sits ! 
When you view the evening star above you, then 
reflect upon the morning star within you. 

When you sit down at your table to meat, let 
this be your first course, how happy are all those 
who shall eat bread in the kingdom of Christ ! 
Those are the rarest feasts which are graced with 
the most royal guests. 

When you see the winged travellers swiftly part 
the yielding elements, or the winding rivers has- 
tening to their origin, then consider how rapidly 
the little rivers of opportunity are pushing their 
way to the great ocean of eternity. 

When you are decorating your body with the 
varieties of art, then reflect how the Eternal Word 
put on the rough suit of humanity. Think how 
mercy undressed itself to cover you with its gar- 
ments ! 

When you take off your apparel, then remem- 
ber that you must put off this tabernacle. Be 
going to your bed as if you were going to your 
grave ; and so close your eyes in one world as if 
you were immediately to open them in another. 

When you behold your garden stored with trees, 



221 

and richly laden with fruit, then contemplate upon 
the Great Husbandman, the true vine, and his be- 
lieving branches. It cannot be so pleasant to see 
our orchards bearing fruits for us as it is to God to 
see us bring forth fruit to him. 

When you gaze upon the stately buildings, the 
shady groves, the crystal streams, the pleasant 
meadows, and all the pomp of wicked men, then 
think, if sinners go away with such large messes, 
what shall Benjamin's portion be ! If the chil- 
dren of the concubines have such possessions, what 
shall be the inheritance of the children of promise ! 
If the dogs fare so well beneath the table, how must 
the children fare at it ! Give me that eye which 
can see God in all, and that hand which can serve 
God with all, and that heart that can bless him 
for all. 

14. Another principle that a Christian is to walk 
by is this : that he should speak well of God, what- 
soever evil he receives from God. 

While the water is quiet the mud lies at the 
bottom ; but when it is disturbed it rises to the top. 
Every cock-boat can swim in a shallow river, but 
it must be a strong vessel that ploughs the troubled 
ocean. "The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh 
away; blessed be the name of the Lord." He 
gives before he takes, and takes but what he gives. 
The hour-glass of outward happiness soon runs 
out. To-day Job is the richest man in all the east, 
to-morrow Job is the poorest man in all the world, 
yet his heart was like a fruitful paradise when his 
estate was like a barren wilderness. Though God 
19* 



222 

burnt up his out-house, yet his palace was left 
standing. 

Outward mercies are like the tide, which ebbs as 
well as flows ; like the sky, which sometimes is 
clear and at another time clouded ; or like a bud- 
ding flower, which a warm day opens and a cold 
day shuts again. If God bless us in taking as 
well as in giving, let us bless him for taking as 
well as for giving. 

That is a choice artist who can play well upon 
a broken instrument. To be impatient with our 
aflliction, and patient with our corruption, is to be 
angry with the medicine which heals us, and in 
love with the poison which kills us. 

Beloved, it is sometimes in mercy to us that 
God removes outward mercies from us. He never 
wounds a saint to kill him, but to heal him. A 
gracious person once said, " Though I am some- 
times full of pains, yet I am at all times full of 
patience ; I often mourn under my corruption, but 
I never murmur under my affliction." Some can 
rejoice in anything but in Christ, and grieve for 
anything but lust. 

Too many think that God is cutting down the 
tree when he is but lopping off its luxuriant 
branches. They imagine that he is demolishing 
the superstructure when he is only laying a right 
foundation. Poor souls, he is not nipping the flow- 
ers, but plucking up the weeds ; he is not laying 
your land fallow, but ploughing the field ; he is 
not putting out the light, but snuffing the candle. 
Providence hath a beautiful face under a black 
mask. God has the fairest ends in the foulest 



223 

ways. The sheep may be dipped in the water to 
wash it, when there is no design in the good shep- 
herd to drown it. 

Christian reader, you may read the marks of a 
father in the stripes of his children. Every twig 
of the black rod is but to draw his image upon 
you. Could we but bury our friends alive, we 
should not mourn so much for them when they are 
dead. Did not the possession of riches sometimes 
draw away our hearts, then the loss of them would 
not break our hearts. 

u Son of man* behold I take away the desire of 
thine eyes with a stroke." What though he take 
a wife out of your bosom, so he take her into his 
own. You may embrace a creature till you kill it 
with kindness, and wither the sweetest flowers by 
smelling them too often. God doth but take that 
out of your hands which would thrust him <mt of 
your heart. 

He that mingles his passions with his afflictions 
is like a foolish patient, who chews the pills he 
should swallow whole. He that carnally disturbs 
his soul for the loss of his substance casts away 
the kernel because God hath taken away the shell. 
If the tree yield us good fruit, it will be no very 
great loss though the wind blow away the leaves. 
To bless God for mercies is the way to increase 
them ; to bless God for miseries is the way to 
remove them. No good lives so long as that which 
is thankfully improved ; no evil dies so soon as 
that which is patiently sustained. 

God can make a plaster of a disease, and bring 
soundness to the inward man by the sickness of 



224 

the outward man. If he stop up all your light it 
is but to make you fairer windows. When the 
stars do not shine the sun appears, repairing the 
loss of the smaller lights with brighter beams. In 
the loss of withered nosegays, you may smell at 
flowers fresh on the stalk. When Christians have 
their candles put out they may fetch their light 
from the sun, and when they have their streams 
cut off they may drink at the spring-head. 

The birds of paradise make the swiftest flight 
when they have the smallest feathers. These 
nightingales warble the most sweetly when they 
set their breasts against the thorns. The creature 
often interrupts the respects which we owe to our 
Creator ; and then no wonder if he break the cis- 
tern to bring us unto the fountain. Those who 
are found blessing God under all their losses, shall 
find God blessing them after all their losses. 

lor Another principle by which a Christian 
should walk is this ; that the longer God forbears 
%vith the unrelenting sinner in life, the sorer he 
strikes him in the judgment-day . 

Divine patience is to be adored by all and abused 
by none. Sinners usually take God's forbearance 
for their acquittance. Because they sin unpun- 
ished for a time, they imagine there is no punish- 
ment for sin in eternity. They forget that it is 
one thing to forbear the debtor, and another to for- 
give the debt. 

" Because sentence against an evil work is not 
executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons 
of men is fully set in them to do evil." Because 
the Lord continues to spare them, therefore they 



225 

go on to provoke him. As he adds to their lives 
so they add to their lusts. What is this, but as if 
a man should break all his bones because there is 
a surgeon who is able to set them again 1 

Christian reader, you were greatly in debt to 
divine justice, but mercy stopped the awful arrest 
of vengeance. Many others have been taken from 
the earth by a sudden arrow darted from heaven. 
Adulterous Zimri and Crosby unloaded their lives 
and their lusts at the same time. 

Because justice seems to wink, men suppose her 
blind; because she delays punishment, they im- 
agine she denies to punish them ; because she 
does not always reprove them for their sins, they 
suppose she always approves of their sins. But 
let such know that the silent arrow can destroy as 
well as the roaring cannon. Though the patience 
of God be lasting, yet it is not everlasting. 

Believer, the sword of justice is dipped in the 
oil of mercy for your sake; and it dismembers 
some parts of your body, that the whole might not 
be destroyed. 

"He that, being often reproved, hardens his 
neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that with- 
out remedy." 

God loves all men so as to feed and forbear 
them, yet he loves but few men so as to forgive 
them. He was six days in making the whole 
world, and seven days in destroying one city. 
Our garrisons are fairly summoned before they are 
furiously stormed. If God's warnings are not 
sanctified to us, his vengeance will be executed 



226 

upon us. It is sad for the iron to gather rust 
under the file. 

Reader, remember that if you be corrected the 
Lord takes the scourge out of your own house. 
u I gave her space to repent of her fornication, 
but she repented not." Many have the space of 
repentance who have not the grace of repentance. 
But what follows? " Behold, I will cast her into 
a bed, and them that commit adultery with her 
into great tribulation, except they repent of their 
deeds." Sinners may cast themselves upon a bed 
of false hope, but justice will cast them into a bed 
of real torment. 

Mark how the long slumbering arm of Deity 
awakes to the prey : "I have a long time holden 
my peace, I have been still and refrained myself: 
now will I cry like a travailing woman; I will 
destroy and devour at once." The longer God is 
in fetching about his hand, the heavier will the 
blow be when it falls. 

Security resembles a flash of lightning, which 
ushers in a clap of thunder ; or it is like a profound 
calm at sea, which is generally succeeded by a 
dreadful storm. 

Know, sinner, that God can dip his hand in 
your blood, and yet fetch out the stains. 

He is pleased sometimes to shake your feeble 
cottage before he throws it down ; he often makes 
it totter before it tumbles. It may be a fair sun- 
shiny season with you now, but a whirlwind may 
soon arise and dash you to pieces. 

We pity a body that is going to the block, and 
shall we not pity a soul that is hastening to the bot- 



227 

tomless pit ? He dies the most comfortably who 
lives the most heavenly. It is easier for a bird to 
avoid the snare than to break the snare. The 
very beasts will shun the places where their own 
species have miscarried. 

The rising sun in the morning was no proof that 
Sodom should not be entombed in its own ashes 
'before the evening. That day which begins in 
prosperity may end in adversity. 

Attend to the charge which the King of heaven 
brings against the priests of Israel: " These things 
has thou done, and I kept silence ; thou thoughtest 
that I was altogether such an one as thyself; but 
I will reprove thee, and set them in order before 
thee." But what is the application of this? 
" Consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you 
in pieces, and there be none to deliver you." Jus- 
tice proportions the sinner's smart to his fault, so 
that we may behold the greatness of the offence in 
the fitness of the punishment. 

" If the wicked turn not, he hath whet his sword, 
he hath bent his bow and made it ready." The 
whetting of the sword is but to give it a keener 
edge, that it may cut the deeper. God is silent as 
long as the sinner will let him; but when the 
sword is whet, it is to cut, and when the bow is 
bent, it is to kill ; and woe be to that man who is 
the butt. 

Enraged justice will avenge the quarrel of 
abused mercy; for "It is a fearful thing to fall 
into the hands of the living God." It is a good 
thing to fall at his feet, but a fearful thing to fall 
into his hands. The stronger the enemy's arm is, 



228 

the stronger will his blow be. Never did a weary 
traveller complain of being at his journey's end too 
soon. But a sinner, if he die soon, it does but 
hasten his torment, and if he live long, it does but 
heighten his torment. 

Ah, what a sad vision is that where the black 
horse of death precedes, and the red horse of wrath 
follows after! Needs must one fear come upon 
the back of another, when one death comes upon 
the neck of another. 

Sinner, how fearful is it to be preserved from 
small and reserved for great evils! The higher 
you are raised the greater will be your fall. You 
may wonder more at the divine indulgence which 
has so long reprieved you, than at the Almighty 
vengeance which so soon overtakes you. You 
were dry enough for eternal flames when you 
were wrapped in your swaddling bands: for, 
" You were by nature a child of wrath, even as 
others." All who draw their first breath in cor- 
ruption deserve to draw their second in destruction. 
It is a wonder that he should add to our days 
when we are adding to our sins. 

God has his vials of wrath filled with indigna- 
tion for those who are vessels of wrath fitted for 
destruction. If his long suffering does not draw 
the sinner to repentance, his severity will drown 
him in desperation. O sinner, either seek a 
Saviour to deliver you from the wrath of God, or 
else find a shoulder to bear you up under the 
wrath of God. 

16. Another principle by which a Christian 
should walk is this : that there is no judging of 



229 

the inward conditions of men by the outward dis- 
pensations of God. 

The greatness of our estates is no argument of 
the goodness of our hearts. To prize ourselves by 
what we have, and not by what we are, is to esti- 
mate the value of the jewel by the golden frame 
which contains it. Grace and gold can live 
together ; but the smallest degree of the former in 
the heart is preferable to a chain of the latter 
about the neck. 

That old complaint may justly be revived, Bonis 
male, malis bene. Here it is sometimes evil with 
the righteous, and well with the wicked. Those 
who live most upon God fare worst from the 
world. 

Under the law the dove was preferred in sacri- 
fice to the swine. Riches are called thick clay. 
They are more likely to weaken the back than 
strengthen the heart. 

" No man can know love or hatred by anything 
that is before him." You cannot read the wrath 
of God in the black lines of adversity, or the love 
of God in the white lines of prosperity. 

God often wrings out the waters of a full cup 
to wicked men, though there be dregs at the bot- 
tom. They may be fruitful vines, and yet only 
laden with sour grapes. It is seldom that the 
sparkling diamond of a great estate is set in the 
golden ring of a converted heart. 

Riches have made many good men worse, but 
they never made any bad man better. Thus if we 
discern but a spark of grace in a nobleman, we 
20 



230 

cry it up as a blazing comet, and speak of it in the 
superlative degree. 

Though a Christian be made happy in the world, 
yet he is not made happy by the world. Give 
me those judgments which give birth to mercy, 
rather than those outward mercies which give 
birth to judgments. There are many who are 
temporally happy, who will be eternally miser- 
able; and many are now temporally miserable, 
who will be eternally happy. 

If indigence could procure heaven, how many 
poor people would then be saved ! and if wealth 
could free a man from hell, how very few of the 
rich would be damned ! The kingdom of Christ 
is the kingdom of the cross. Those who attempt 
to take the cross from the Christian's shoulders do 
in effect aim to remove the crown from his head. 

" He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on 
the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the 
unjust." The sun of prosperity shines upon the 
dunghill as well as upon beds of spices. The 
rain of adversity falls upon the fruitful garden as 
well as the barren wilderness. The abundance of 
the in^fidel is as a golden chain to bind him to the 
earth, and the apparent miseries of the believer are 
as fiery chariots to convey him to heaven. 

" And now we call the proud happy; yea, they 
that work wickedness are set up ; yea, they that 
tempt God are even delivered." God's jewels 
may here be trodden under foot, but hereafter 
they will be fixed in the royal diadem. If we look 
for a saint, he is not always to be found upon a 
bed of down, but sometimes he has been seen on a 



231 

heap of dust, Poor Lazarus rises to heaven, and 
rich Dives sinks to hell. 

Benjamin was not the less regarded by Joseph 
because the silver cup was discovered in his sack. 
We must not infer the absence of God's affections 
from the presence of numerous afflictions. Though 
the north wind may chill us, yet the beams of 
summer can soon revive us. Those stones which 
are designed for the building are frequently wound- 
ed by the chisel, while those which are neglected 
lie in ruinous heaps. 

A saint is glorious in his. misery, but a sinner is 
miserable amidst all his glory. We must not there- 
fore think evil of religion, though we should be- 
hold a Joseph in the prison, while a Pharaoh is in 
a palace ; or a Job on the ground, \vhile a Julian is 
on a throne. The most curious pearls are often 
inclosed in the most rugged shells. 

" Judge not according to appearance, but judge 
righteous judgment." Those who judge of a 
man's real greatness by his apparent grandeur are 
unfit to set upon the bench. That apple has not 
always the soundest core which has the fairest skin. 

The tinsel glare upon a sinner is too apt to 
offend the weak eyes of a saint. Alas ! why 
should he envy him a little light who is to be 
shrouded in everlasting darkness 1 Why should 
we throw bludgeons at those boughs which are 
only laden with poisonous fruits ? 

" Deliver my soul from the wicked, who have 
their portion in this life : whose belly thou fillest 
with thy hid treasure." The things of the world 
are the only happiness of the men of the world. 



232 

None of their flowers grow in paradise. They are 
anxious for the creature, and in different about the 
Redeemer. 

A man's estate in this world may be great, and 
yet his state for another world may be fearful. 
God may say to him as to Pharaoh : " For this 
purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show 
my power upon thee." The same hand which 
now pours abundance on ungodly men like oil, will 
soon pour down wrath upon them like water. 
Under all their wealth their hearts are sinful, and 
after all the riches are fled their situation will be 
doleful. It is far better to pass through the valley 
of Baca to Zion than to pitch our tents in the 
plains of Sodom. 

Luther's expression was not the less true because 
it was homely: "The whole Turkish empire is 
but a crust which God threw to the dogs." One 
said, "I would rather have Paul's coat, with his 
heavenly graces, than the purple robes of princes 
with all their kingdoms." 

Lest riches should be accounted evil in them- 
selves, God sometimes gives them to the righteous ; 
and lest they should be considered as the chief 
good, he frequently bestows them on the wicked. 
But they are more generally the portion of his 
enemies than his friends. 

Alas, what is it to receive, and not to be re- 
ceived ! to have none other dews of blessing than 
such as shall be followed with showers of brim- 
stone ! We may compass ourselves with sparks 
of security, and after ward be secured in eternal 
misery. This world is a floating island, and so 



233 

sure as we cast anchor upon it we shall be carried 
away by it. 

God, and all that he has made, is not more than 
God without anything that he has made. He 
can never want treasure who has such a golden 
mine. He is enough without the creature, but the 
creature is not anything without him. It is therefore 
better to enjoy him without anything else than to 
enjoy everything else without him. It is better to 
be a wooden vessel filled with wine than a golden 
one filled with water. 

17. Another principle by which a Christian 
should walk is this : that it is safest to cleave to 
that good which is the choicest. 

There never was one who thought he had made 
a bad market by selling all for the pearl of great 
price. 

11 Lord, to whom shall we go? for thou hast the 
words of eternal life." Peter knew that a soul 
who was changed was not for changing. There 
cannot be a better being for us than for us to be 
with the Lord ; and shall those who have forsaken 
all to follow him forsake him again to follow 
nothing? 

Reader, you cannot tread in the steps of Christ 

without drinking of the cup of Christ. The nearer 

you are to such a spring the clearer will your 

streams be. When every other gourd is withered 

*he will prove a refreshing shelter. 

" How precious are thy thoughts unto me, O 

God ; how great is the sum of them ! If I should 

count them they are more in number than the 

sand ; when I awake I am still with thee." David 

20* 



234 

was least alone when he was most alone. His 
heart was like the needle in the compass, which 
always inclines to the northern pole. Believers 
are desirous of leaving their heart with God one 
day, that they may leave them with him another 
day. 

" Whom have I in heaven but thee, and there is 
none upon earth that I desire besides thee." Let 
a believer search heaven and earth, yet he can 
find nothing comparable to God ; and, indeed, he 
must be a conjurer at discovery if he could. As 
Judah said of Jacob, " His life is bound up in the 
life of the lad ;" so say I of a Christian, His life is 
bound up in the life of God. To be near to him 
in happiness is to draw near to him in holiness. 

Many unstable professors may justly be reflected 
upon. They will readily attend an applauded 
Christ, but will hastily desert a crucified Christ ; 
but a true Christian is as willing to follow him to 
the cross as to the throne. He has no desire to 
turn like a shadow from him in whom there is no 
shadow of turning. 

As there is no natural good in us to lead us to 
God, so there is no evil without us that shall finally 
draw us from him. Who but an idiot would ad- 
dress a picture instead of a person, or prefer a 
shadow to a substance ? There is nothing can do 
us so much good as God's presence, or so much 
evil as his absence. 

It is far better to part with a thousand worlds 
for one Christ than with one Christ for a thousand 
worlds. How dreadful is their darkness who live 
in the absence of such a sun ? 



235 

Reader, every step you take to Christ is a step 
toward heaven ; and every step you take from 
nim is a moral step towards hell. 

11 And he was sorrowful at that saying, and 
went away grieved, for he had great possessions." 
This poor rich man, or rather this rich poor man, 
came hastily to Jesus, and ran heavily from him. 
If he may not enjoy God and mammon, he will 
leave God for mammon. One was for selling all, 
but the other for saving all. Ah, what false bal- 
ances are those which will make corruptible silver 
outweigh an incorruptible Saviour ! 

The prince of darkness employs the men of the 
world to draw us from God, and the things of the 
world to keep us from God. Truly, that good 
was never worth seeking that is not worth keeping. 

Reader, is it not a fault to depart from that God 
in whom there is no fault ? As Saul said to his 
servants, " Hear now, ye Benjamites, will the son 
of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, 
and make you all captains of thousands, and cap- 
tains of hundreds?" So say I to sinners; can 
sin, Satan, or the world, do that for you which 
God can ? It is only the best of beings who can 
convey the best of blessings. None but that God 
who has the keys of heaven can open the gates of 
heaven. By him we obtain admittance into the 
celestial inheritance. 

What is our life but a warfare, and what is the 
world bat a thoroughfare? Know, sinner, if you 
reject the Saviour, you despise grace, which is the 
fairest jewel on earth ; and glory, which is the 
brightest sun beyond this life. 



236 

No set of men are in greater danger of losing 
the life to come than those who are contented with 
the present. A drop is more easily dried up than 
a river, and a spark sooner extinguished than a 
flame. 

What powerful constraints does our God lay 
upon us to seek his friendship! "I will never 
leave thee nor forsake thee." It would be better 
for us to leave all behind than that he should leave 
us behind. It is not the brightest star that can 
constitute day when the sun is set, or the thickest 
cloud that can make a night if it be risen. 

18. Another principle by which a Christian 
should walk is this : that no present worldly busi- 
ness should interrupt his pursuit of future blessed- 
ness. 

Solomon says, " All the labor of man is for his 
mouth." Though he says it is so, yet he does not 
say it should be so. This would not be for a 
heathen to commence Christian, but for a Chris- 
tian to become a glutton. 

That hawk which follows the world's prey is in 
danger of falling into God's snare. Why should I 
lay out that time in seeking pebbles which may 
be better employed in search of jewels ? What 
God bestows on some men as a temporary pen- 
sion they embrace as their only portfon. Such 
foolish travellers are so taken up with the inn as 
to forget the end of their journey. They may 
indeed sow this seed, but it will produce nothing 
but wormwood. 

Outward mercies are not so mean as to be totally 
neglected, or so great as to be primarily desired. 



237 

If they be seducements from the mercy-seat they 
will prove indictments at the judgment-seat. 

I may say of the earth as a philosopher said of 
Athens, "It may serve for a transient lodging, but 
not for a constant dwelling." Outward plenty 
may be a comfortable ship for indigence to sail in, 
but it is a dangerous rock for confidence to build 
upon. Give some people the earth in their hands, 
and they care not who has heaven in his heart. 

When Crates threw his gold into the sea he 
cried out, Ego perdam te ne tn perdas me; that 
, is, "I will destroy you lest you should destroy me." 
Thus, if the world be not put to death here, it will 
put us to death hereafter. Then we shall say as 
Cardinal Wolsey, when discarded by his prince, 
and abandoned to the fury of his enemies: " If I 
had served my God as faithfully as my king he 
would not have thus forsaken me." Poor man, all 
the perfumes on earth are unable to prevail over 
the stench of hell ! 

It would be well for Christians could they say 
as Erasmus, " I desire riches no more than a fee- 
ble beast wishes for a heavy burden. Cares are 
bound to crowns. Anxiety disfigures the face of 
prosperity, and renders it like a crystal glass blown 
up by impure breath. A body laden with cares 
and a soul laden with spiritual fruits cannot well 
unite together. Those who die trifling with salva- 
tion will after death tremble under the pains of 
damnation. 

I have heard of a woman, who, being busied to 
save her goods, when her house was in flames, 
forgot her child ; but the child being soon after 



238 

inquired for, she cried out, " O my child ! my child ! n 
Thus will many thoughtless sinners in a worse 
fire cry out, "O our souls! our souls!" Poor 
Sisera was not much better for the milk and but- 
ter, when he so soon after felt the nail and the 
hammer. 

Ah ! how careful are men of their outward, and 
how careless about their inward, concerns ! In a 
vigorous body there is a vicious soul. The evil 
disposition of the latter spoils the good composi- 
tion of the former. 

For a man to be attentive to his flesh and inat- 
tentive to his spirit, what is this, but as if a hus- 
bandman should gather in his stubble and leave 
his corn behind ; or as if a goldsmith should weigh 
his dross and cast away his gold ? 

Reader, will you curiously trim your scabbard 
and let the costly sword decay with rust ? This 
would be like Jacob, to lay the right hand upon 
the younger and the left hand upon the elder. If 
there be nothing done in your soul on earth there 
will be nothing done for it in heaven. 

It is truly lamentable that the soul, which re- 
ceived its being from God, should be excluded from 
a being with God. 

19. Another principle that a believer should walk 
by is this : that gospel integrity towards God is 
the best security against wicked men. 

Surly mastiffs which have no teeth may bark, 
but they cannot bite. Who would fear the hissing 
serpent, if he knew it had no sting? A naked 
man with innocence is preferable to Goliah with 
his coat of mail. 



239 

" And who is he that shall harm you if ye be 
followers of that which is good?" As no flattery 
can heal a bad conscience, so no cruelty can wound 
a good one. As the ways of God have happiness 
connected with them, so sufferings for the sake of 
God have honor annexed to them. A pious mar- 
tyr has more renown than a bloody persecutor. 

Integrity may not keep us from supposed infamy. 
The choicest professors have had their black marks 
in the world's calendars. But though it may not 
keep us from being shot at, yet it will preserve us 
from injury. 

C J The Lord taketh my part with them that help 
me ; therefore shall I see my desire upon them that 
hate me." God will either find a shield to ward 
off sufferings, or a hand to sustain us under them. 
Though the Christian be as a sheep among wolves, 
God can save him from being rent by them ; or as 
a ship amidst waves, he can keep him from being 
overwhelmed by them. Let us not therefore bury 
a church before she is dead. It is time enough 
to put on mourning when God invites us to her 
funeral. 

" For I am the Lord thy God, the holy one of 
Israel, thy Saviour ; I gave Egypt for thy ransom, 
Ethiopa and Seba, for thee." Thus, whether he 
pluck up the tares, or let them stand, it is only for 
the sake of his people. Noah was sound in the 
faith when all the earth was polluted, and he was 
saved in the ark while it was deluged. 

" Upon all the glory shall be a defence." There 
is nothing but the glory worth keeping, and there 
is none of the glory that shall be wanting. The 



240 

shields of salvation are not hung up in the way of 
transgression. All the wiles of hell cannot con- 
quer a single soldier in Christ's camp, much less 
rout his whole army. 

"The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the 
righteous runneth into it and is safe." The name 
of the Lord is a strong tower, both for sublimity 
and security. When Christ is our harbor we may 
safely run our vessels into so desirable a retreat. 

M A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse ; a 
spring shut up, a fountain sealed." As God num- 
bers the hairs of his people, he must needs preserve 
their heads. He has a strong hedge of protection 
for them when their enemies would break in upon 
them. 

" When thou passest through the waters I will 
be with thee, and through the rivers they shall not 
overflow thee ; when thou walkest through the 
fire thou shalt not be burnt, neither shall the flame 
kindle upon thee." Here is a dangerous voyage, 
but a safe convoy. God never deals with his 
friends as we do with ours. We serve them too 
often as we do dials, which we only look upon 
when the sun of prosperity shines ; or as ladies do 
with flowers, who while they are gay place them 
in their bosoms, but when they fade cast them 
away. But when our want is greatest God's help 
is nearest. The more grievous our oppression the 
more glorious is our deliverance. 

When our misery is most powerful then the 
Lord's mercy is most visible. When our night is 
the darkest our day is the clearest. When our ebb 
is the lowest our flood is the highest. As our 



241 

tribulations abound, so our consolations much 
more abound." 

When God's benignity is most admired, our ca- 
lamity is more easy endured. Israel often slum- 
bers and sleeps, but he that keepeth Israel does 
neither. Thus we may boldly say, "If God be 
for us who shall be against us?" Against us they 
may be to hate us, but against us they shall not be 
to hurt us. 

Noah rides safely in a well pitched ark, while 
the old world is drowned. When Israel is led 
captive Jeremiah is set at liberty. The prophet 
found more favor from the princes of Babel than 
from the people of Israel. Gibeon's fleece was wet 
while all the earth was dry. Thus will God 
always preserve integrity and punish vanity. His 
grain is often gathered into the garner before he 
comes to burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. 

20. And lastly, a Christian will walk by this 
principle : that the richness of the croion that shall 
be received shall more than compensate for the bit- 
terness of the cross which may here be endured. 
The last wine that Christ draws is the best wine 
that Christians drink. When the waters cover the 
earth, whither should dove-like spirits fly but to 
the ark of Christ ? He who left heaven to make 
them righteous, will come from heaven to make 
them glorious. 

"For ye had compassion on me in my bonds, 

and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, 

knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a 

better and more enduring substance." O how did 

21 



242 

the glory of their heavenly mansions outshine all 
the glare of their earthly possessions ! 

Christian, you are now on a troubled sea, do not 
say that you shall never arrive at your sure resting- 
place. What, has God plucked you out of the 
fire of destruction, and will he leave you in the 
water of affliction? In a small moment you will 
cheerfully sing, " Lo, the winter is past, the rais. is 
over and gone, the flowers appear on the earth, 
and the time of the singing of birds is come." The 
blessed Sun of righteousness will shine clearer 
when these clouds are blown over. If there be so 
much liquor in a single grape, what must there be 
in the whole cluster ! 

Take a believer while he lives, and God has a 
servant the more on earth ; take him when he dies, 
and God has a servant the more in heaven. 

Christian, vou must never look for an end to 
your sorrows till you see an end to your sins. As 
the former came not a day before the latter, so they 
stay not a day behind them. " As many as I love 
I rebuke and chasten." Well may you bear the 
rod when infinite love makes it up and lays it on. 
When you lie under his afflicting hand you then 
lie near his affected heart. Rake a dunghill and 
its effluvia will be offensive, but beat perfume and 
its scent will be grateful. 

I have read of a fountain that is cold at mid-day 
and warm at midnight. Thus are saints frequently 
cold in the mid-day of prosperity, and warm in the 
midnight of adversity. Afflictions are not a con- 
suming but a refining fire to the godly. They are 



243 

like the thorn at the nightingale's breast, which 
rouses and puts her upon her delightful notes: 

11 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present 
life are not worthy to be compared with the glory 
which shall be revealed in us." These fall as far 
short of glory as the smallest fraction does of the 
largest sum, or as the least filings of gold do of all 
the riches of India. If the faint glimmerings of 
Christ's face overpower the pains of the cross, what 
must the full meridian of his glorious light do? 

"For our light afflictions, which are but for a 
moment, work for us a far more exceeding and 
eternal weight of glory." Ah, how light is a dram 
of reproach to a weight of glory ! and how short a 
moment's pain to an eternity of pleasure ! 

He should not be weary of the cross who is sure 
of the crown. After the cup of affliction then 
comes the cup of salvation. The wine-press pre- 
pares for the wine-cellar. The painful throes of 
travail are soon forgotten in the fond embraces of 
a tender babe. 

Sour fruits require something to sweeten them. 
Death is grateful to no creature, but it is profitable 
to every Christian. Our good physician will not 
continue us a moment longer in his infirmary than 
is necessary. Our refiner regards his choice gold 
too much to consume it in the flames. 

Those who are patient in the seedtime of sor- 
row shall soon reap the glorious harvest of unfad- 
ing joy. We may converse concerning our future 
greatness, but we shall never know the weight of 
the crown till it be placed on our heads. 

Come 3 O Christian, be of good comfort ; though 



244 

the cloth be cut, it is only to make it up into a 
curious garment. The hewing of the timber is 
only to prepare it for the structure. The new corn 
that lives in summer is produced from the old corn 
that died in the winter. It is neither commendable 
to rush into the arms of death, contrary to the dic- 
tates of reason, nor to fly from them when God 
calls us to them. 

Shall Jesus come down from heaven to die for 
you, and will you be unwilling to ascend from 
earth to heaven to live with him? A saint's reluc- 
tancy to meet death arises from his apprehensions 
of unreadiness to meet him. A pardon may have 
passed the prince's seal that is not put into the 
prisoner's hand. The edge of this sword has been 
blunted ever since it Avas sheathed in Christ's side. 

After the vessel has endured the storms it will 
arrive at the haven. Though the Christian's 
triumphs never end, yet, blessed be God, his trials 
shall soon end. When his body and soul shall part 
asunder, then God and his soul shall meet together. 

" Though ye have lain among the pots, yet shall 
ye be as the wings of a dove, covered with silver, 
and her feathers with yellow gold." If the lancet 
make a deep incision it is only to reach the depth 
of your wound, and render the cure more complete. 
Health is most acceptable after sharp sickness; 
and liberty after the most rigorous bondage. 
Sailors always triumph at the appearance of land 
after a long and tedious voyage. All the grapes in 
Christ's vineyard must pass through the wine- 
press. 

However pleasant a sinner's beginning may be, 



245 

his end is destruction ; and however troublesome 
a saint's beginning may be, his end shall be honor- 
able. The fresh rivers of carnal pleasures run 
into the salt sea of desperation ; but the wet seed- 
time of a religious life ends in the blessed harvest 
of a peaceable death. 

When Croesus inquired of Solon who the hap- 
piest man was, he answered, "One Tellus, who 
lived a sober life, and died at last fighting for his 
country." Christian, was he happy in living and 
dying for his country ; and shall you be miserable 
who live and die for your Christ ? 

When Adrianus asked how the Christians could 
so patiently endure the tortures he had inflicted, 
they answered, "The love of Christ constraineth 
us, and the love of heaven encourages us." Those 
who are born blind cannot judge of the glories that 
dazzle the eyes of angels. One smile from God's 
face will forever dry up all the tears from the 
saint's eyes. 

As fishes dropping out of a narrow brook into 
the large pcean do not lose but enlarge their ele- 
ment ; so when the godly leave the church mili- 
tant, they do not forsake but increase their blessed- 
ness. As the flames of a burnt offering ascend to 
heaven while its ashes fall to the ground, so the 
soul of a saint rises to glory while his body falls 
into the dusty grave. 

Having thus digested the twenty singular prin- 
ciples by which a believer walks, I lastly come to 
give directions to those who wish to do more than 
others. And here I shall stud your golden ring 

21* 



246 

with seven precious diamonds. Would you there- 
fore do more than others? then deny yourselves t 
more than others; would you deny yourselves 
more than others? then you must pray more than 
others ; would you pray more than others ? then 
you must resolve more than others; would you 
resolve more than others? then you must love 
more than others; would you love more than 
others ? then you must believe more than others ; 
would you believe more than others? then you 
must know more than others; and would you 
know more than others? then God must reveal 
himself more to you than he does to others. 

1. Would you do more than others? then deny 
yourselves more than others. 

Either self must be laid aside, or God will lay 
us aside. What can any true Israelite behold in 
this Dagon, that the ark of God should bow before 
it? 

Though self-seeking had its birth in heaven, yet 
being justly cast out, it can never find its way 
thither again. 

" If any man will come after me, let him deny 
himself, and take up his cross and follow me." 
This is the very basis of our profession. Sinful 
self is to be destroyed, and natural self is to be 
denied. 

A little will serve a man who is strong in gxace ; 
much will but serve him who is weak in grace ; 
but nothing will do for him who is void of grace 
As we ore called to lay out all in the cause of 
God, so we are to lay down all at the call of God. 



247 

2. Would you deny yourselves more than others? 
then you should pray more than others. 

Our daily bread calls for our daily prayers, be- 
cause one want is created while another is sup- 
plied. Are we called by the name of Christ, and 
shall we not call upon the name of Christ ? Take 
away spiritual breath, and you take away spiritual 
life. There never was one new-born who was 
still-born. 

Who would not stretch out a beggar's hand to 
receive a jewel of infinite value ? With what 
boldness should those appear at court who are 
sure of the king's ear ! 

Spiritual prayer resembles Noah's dove, which 
returned with an olive branch. Prayers were 
never rightly offered to God, but they were quickly 
answered. We are as much bound to pray while 
on earth as angels are to praise while in heaven. 

He who would speed in his enjoyment should 
plead for the attainment. The prayerless soul is 
a fruitless soul. The waters of life are sweet, and 
it is blessed to bring the vessels of prayer to these 
wells. Throw a dry sponge into the river, and it 
will soon fill itself with water. 

Many will cast off this duty because they are 
ashamed to go to it with crutches : but these wants 
of accomplishment should not be a discourage- 
ment, for many dumb beggars have been relieved 
at Christ's gate, by making signs. 

" And as he prayed, the fashion of his counte- 
nance was altered, and his raiment was white and 
glittering.'' Christ had the bright sunshine of his 



248 

Father's affection when he was moving in the 
orbit of supplication. 

Reader, is not that mercy worth your breath, 
which was worth a Saviour's blood? Why should* 
we cease petitioning while God continues granting 1 

"Lord, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go 
childless ?" Thus may you pray : " Lord, what 
wilt thou give me, seeing I go comfortless ? " Be- 
lieving prayer is a traffic for those commodities, 
which are only locked up in heaven's store-house. 
Why should we be dumb, seeing God is not deaf? 

By fasting, the body learns to obey the soul; 
by praying, the soul learns to command the body. 

No Christian has so little from Christ but there 
is ground for praise ; and no Christian has so 
much, but he has need of prayer. Every day we 
find it is a great work to accomplish a little work. 
Every new act of obedience requires fresh assist- 
ance. 

" Ask and receive, that your joy may be full." 
Spiritual supplication is a channel to consolation. 
Now none are more fruitful in divine labor than 
those who are most joyful under a sense of the 
divine favor. Death shortens our way to heaven, 
but that sweetens our way to heaven. 

A neglect to nip the floAvers does but increase 
the growth of the weeds. A small vessel with 
smart gales will sail faster than a large ship with 
small winds. I never expect that branch to bear 
any fruit which receives no sap from the vine. 
When prayer mounts upon the wing of fervor to 
God, then answers come down like lightning from 
God. 



249 

The gift of prayer may have praise from men, 
but it is the grace of prayer which has power with 
God. A few grapes prove the plant to be a vine, 
and not a thorn. Though prayer be God's due as 
a Creator, yet it is more truly performed when 
offered to him as a Father. Though none can pray 
aright but new creatures, yet all ought to pray 
because they are creatures. 

Christians can never want a praying time if 
they possess a praying frame. ~ In the morning this 
is a golden key to open the heart for God's service, 
and in the evening it is an iron lock to guard the 
heart against sin. 

11 Peter was therefore kept in prison, but prayer 
was made without ceasing of the church unto 
God for him." This fetched an angel out of 
heaven to fetch him out of prison. Their prayer 
went up like fire, and brought down blessings like 
water. It is not always that hound which opens 
the loudest that catches the hare, but that which 
follows closest in the chase. 

Believers should not only pray one with another, 
but one for another. Next to the breach of piety 
in religion we should abominate the breach of 
charity in communion. 

Reader, when the vessel of your soul has given 
over sailing we may conclude the divine winds 
have given over blowing. He who is omniscient 
to know your wants is also omnipotent to grant 
your request. ) Are you made a spiritual priest, 
and will you refuse to offer up spiritual sacrifices? 
Your affections should soar like an eagle when 
your lips cannot move faster than a snail. 



250 

"Pray continually, though you be not continually 
at prayer;" 1 Thess. v. 17. If the lesson be not 
always playing, yet the instrument must be kept 
in tune. 

They should never be dying petitioners that 
have an ever living intercessor. It matters not how 
often you carry an empty pitcher to so full a river ; 
and this is the confidence that we have in him, 
that if we ask anything according to his will he 
hears us ; 1 John v. 18. That soul shall have its 
will of God that desires nothing but what God wills. 

The intercession of Christ is a golden censer, 
and can we desire him to offer up our drossy 
prayer for incense? It was an expression of Lu- 
ther's, Fiat voluntas mea 9 domine quia tiia ; "Let 
my will be done, mine Lord, because it is thine;" 
because it fixed in the same centre, he was bold to 
call for the fulfilling of it. 

The covenant of grace without us turns pre- 
cepts into promises, but the spirit of grace within 
us turns promises into prayers. "Take with you 
words and turn unto the Lord; say unto him, Take 
away all our iniquity, and receive us graciously ; ?? 
Hos. xiv. 2. O how willing is God that we should 
» hit the mark when he teaches us how to direct our 
"arrows ! What desires are there in him that we 
should prevail when he shows us how we should 
wrestle ! Spiritual breathings are more potent 
than carnal roarings; none but such desires as 
want good aims do want good issues ; nothing will 
get up to heaven but that which doth come down 
from heaven ; deny not God faith in prayer, and 
God will not deny a faithful prayer. 



251 

4. "If you would do more than others you must 
love ?nore than others. The love of Christ con- 
strains us;" 2 Cor. v. 14. There is no sin so 
sweet but the love of Christ restrains them from 
it; there is no service so great but the love of 
Christ constrains them to it. If once, this affection 
takes fire, the room becomes too hot for any sin to 
stay in. 

The heart is a chamber for Christ, but not a 
harbor for lust. " The mandrakes give a smell, 
and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, 
new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my 
beloved ;" Cant. vii. 13. Love never shakes the 
boughs but for Christ to eat the fruits. Many 
pay the performance of duties, as oppressed sub- 
jects *do heavy taxes, with sad complaints ; but the 
spouse of Christ looks upon what she is as not 
great enough for his remembrance,. and what she 
does as not good enough for his acceptance ; had 
she anything a thousand times better than herself, 
or were herself a thousand times better, it should 
be bestowed upon him ; what is that little he de- 
sires to that much that he deserves ! When Achilles 
was demanded what enterprises he found most 
easy, he answered, " those which he undertook for 
his friends;" seven years' service seemed nothing 
to Jacob, because of the love he did bear to Rachel. 
Omnia facilia habenti charitatem, saith Austin ; 
"Love, as it acts the most excellently, so it acts 
the most easily." " If you love me, keep my 
commandments;" John xiv. 15. The crystal 
streams of divine actions, they bubble from the 
pure spring of divine affection. I have heard of 



252 

a wife that grudged obedience to her husband, 
because she thought him unworthy to receive it, 
to whom it was answered, " Though he that 
married her was unworthy of her observance, 
yet he that made her was worthy of her obedi- 
ence," and whatsoever she had to say against 
her husband, she had nothing to say against the 
command of God. " In Christ Jesus neither cir- 
cumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, 
but faith which worketh by love ;" GaL v. 6. The 
Christian's love advances by equal paces with the 
Christian's faith, as the heat of the day with the 
shining of the sun ; faith, like Mary, sits at the feet 
of Christ to hear his sermons, and love, like Martha, 
compasses him about with services ; faith is the 
great receiver, and love is the great disburser. We 
take in all by believing, and we lay out all by 
loving ; faith at first works love, and then it works 
by love, as the workman sets an edge upon his 
tools, and then carves and cuts with them ; the 
Scripture hath exceeding high expressions of this 
affection. Christ, he brings the ten command- 
ments into two commandments, Matth. xxii. 37, 
38 : " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all 
thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy 
mind ; this is the first and great commandment, 
and the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy 
neighbor as thyself." Christ, he brings ten words 
into two words ; but Paul, he folds them all up in 
one word : "For the law is fulfilled in one word;" 
Gal. v. 14. What is that? surely it is too big for 
any mouth to utter : u Thou shalt love thy neigh- 
bor as thyself." He that is not wanting in this 



253 

duty is wanting in no duty. Love is called "An 
old commandment and a new commandment ; 1 
John ii. 7, 8. It is as^ old as the law of Moses, and 
yet as new as the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Faith is the grace that first seals the conveyance, 
and love is the grace that at last possesses the in- 
heritance ; faith that unites Christ and sanctified 
souls together on earth, but love that unites God 
and glorified souls together in heaven. 

As the spleen groweth the body decayeth ; and 
as hatred increaseth so holiness abateth. Die ali- 
quicl ut duo simus was the motto of a heathen, and 
therefore doth not belong to a Christian. It is best 
that dissension should never be born among breth- 
ren, and next that it should die presently after its 
birth ; when any leak springs in the ship of Chris- 
tian society, we should use our endeavors to stop it 
speedily. The nearer the union is the more danger- 
ous is the breach ; bodies that are glued together 
may (if severed) be set together as beautiful as ever, 
but members rent and torn cannot be healed with- 
out a scar. 

The love in a hypocrite's bosom is just like the 
fire in the Israelite's bush, which was not burning 
all the while it was blazing ; his estate and rela- 
tions hath the top and strength of his affections ; 
they admit the world not only into the suburbs of 
their senses, but into the city of their souls ; but the 
love of a Saviour in the soul of a believer is as oil 
put into a vial with water, in which, though both 
be never so much shaken together, the oil will be 
uppermost. 

22 



254 

The expression of Absalom is also the language 
of God's people : a Now, therefore, let me see the 
king's face." It is heaven on earth for his children 
to see him ; and it is heaven in heaven for his chil- 
dren to dwell with him. 

Love puts not off the pursuit of duty till it attain 
the possession of glory. There is no rocking this 
babe to sleep but in the cradle of the grave. A soul 
that loves much will work much. The injunctions of 
love are not grievous, but precious. 

God is not so much displeased at our having as at 
our loving sin. He is more pleased at our loving 
than at our performing his service. None can serve 
God like a believer, because none can love him as a 
believer, for the obedience of the heart is the heart of 
obedience. 

5. Would you love more than others ? then it is 
necessary to believe more than others. 

If there be life in the body the pulse will beat, and 
if there be faith in the heart it will work. "What 
doth it profit, my brethren, if a man say he hath 
faith and hath no works ? Can faith save him ?" An 
idle faith is an evil faith, for the faith which works 
not saves not. 

Perceiving of Christ bespeaks our knowledge, but 
receiving him bespeaks our faith. " To as many as 
received him, to them gave he power to become the 
sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." 
Faith not only looks upon Christ as a fountain, but 
it also lays pipes to convey the water into its own 
cistern. 

The window only radiates the room as a medium 



255 

by which the rays of light are let in. As faith can 
do nothing without Christ, so it will, do nothing 
against Christ. A true affiance resembles the spring 
in a watch, which moves all the golden wheels, and 
that only as it is wound up. 

The # father of the child cried out with tears, 
" Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief." 
Though his tears dropped to the earth, yet his faith 
reached up to heaven. Divine confidence can swim 
upon those seas which feeble reason cannot fathom. 
Strong diffidence begets weak obedience. The cords 
of unbelief once tied the hands of Christ, but not so 
strongly but he could have broken them. Now if 
they bound this greater than Samson, what must 
they do to feeble Israelites? 

It is as natural for a believing man to be a Work- 
ing man as it is for the sun to shine or the fire to 
burn. Other graces, like the common people of 
Israel, stand in the outw r ard court; but faith, like 
the high priest, enters within the vail. If Satan 
can undermine the foundation, the superstructure 
will soon totter and fall. 

The great Bernard said, Incrcchdi timcnt diabo- 
him quasi leonem; at qui in fide fortes, despiciunt 
cum quasi vevmiculum ; that is, u Infidels fear the 
devil as a lion, but those w T ho are strong in the 
faith despise him as a very little worm." As there 
is no grace that glorifies God so much as faith, so 
there is no grace that he glorifies so much as faith. 

Martha and Mary both said, "Lord, if thou 
hadst been here our brother had not died." What, 
then, could not he have saved him while absent as 



256 

well as present ? could he not as easily have sent 
him health as brought it ? But docs their unbelief 
stop here ? No; "Lord, by this time he stinketh.* 
True, but their unbelief stank more in Christ's 
nostrils than Lazarus' body did in theirs. 

"And being not weak in faith, he considered 
not his own body now dead when he was about an 
hundred years old; but he was strong in faith, 
giving glory to God." Skilful swimmers are not 
afraid to venture beyond their depth, while learn- 
ers paddle on the bank side. 

As faith receives the righteousness of Christ for 
justification, so it receives the holiness of Christ for 
sanctification. It is the hand, the mouth, apd the 
eye, of the child of God. It is the ring by which 
the soul is united to God the chief good. 

" He that belie veth, out of his belly shall flow 
rivers of living water." When saints would ad- 
vance to a high degree in other virtues, then they 
generally pray for an increase of this. "Lord, 
increase our faith," is no uncommon prayer. What 
the root sucks from the earth it soon disperses 
through the branches. 

Lusts may struggle like wounded soldiers on 
their stumps, and rally like broken troops, but 
they shall never be masters of that field where 
faith is fighting. As lusts would not let Christ 
live without us, so Christ will not let them live 
within us. " Holding the mystery of the faith in 
a pure conscience." If faith be a precious pearl a 
good conscience is the cabinet that contains it. This 
heavenly manna must be laid up in a golden **">* 



257 

When fear is foiled and taken prisoner, then 
faith comes out of the battle "a glorious conqueror. 
It is as able to keep us from falling into tempta- 
tions as from fainting under afflictions. 

A man in the exercise of faith is like Joseph; 
the archers may hit him, but his bow shall abide 
in strength. He is a rich man who lives upon 
his wealth, and he is a righteous man who lives 
by faith. Christians are far from wrapping up the 
talent of faithfulness in the napkin of idleness. 

Unbelief not only blinds the eyes to the purity 
of the law, but deafens the ears to the music of 
the gospel, and deadens the affections to the glories 
of heaven. Every appeal to an unbeliever is like 
a spark of fire falling into the water, which is no 
sooner in than it is out. 

6. Would you believe more than others ? then 
you should know more than others. 

" Wisdom makes the face to shine." I may say 
of divine wisdom as was said of a Grecian lady, 
that no man ever saw her but what loved her. 
That Christian is most excellent who is the most 
intelligent. 

What the Papists cry up as the mother of devo- 
tion, that we cry Sown as the father of superstition. 

Satan binds all his captives down in the dark 
dungeon of ignorance ; like falconers, he blindfolds 
Iris birds, that he may carry them to hell more 
securely. The Father of light takes no pleasure 
in the children of darkness. He is not accus- 
tomed to carry souls to heaven as mariners do 
their passengers to their port, who shut them 



258 

under the hatches so that they cannot see whither 
they go. 

It is no wonder that Christ should be so much 
undesired when he is so much undiscerned. " An 
understanding without understanding is but the 
soul of a beast, imprisoned in the body of a man." 
"If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do 
them." The will of God must be known on earth 
as it is in heaven, before it can be done on earth as 
it is in heaven. Utter darkness is the recompense 
of inward darkness. 

None will ever be colored by walking in the 
beams of the Sun of righteousness. Where there 
is a veil upon the eye of knowledge there will be 
a chain upon the hand of diligence. An ignorant 
man neither cares what he does, nor knows whither 
he is going. When such an one is taken off the 
earth he cannot be taken into heaven. 

Wheresoever there is a trade carried on for 
heaven the spirit of God must first open the shop 
windows. " I must work the works of him that 
sent me, while it is day ; the night cometh when 
no man can work." There is no doing the work 
of the day but by the light of the day. Darkness 
is the devil's element, and the sinner's punishment. 
" My people perish for lack of knowledge." When 
the candle of the soul is extinguished it must needs 
sit in darkness. 

"Taking vengeance of them that know not 
God." The infidel's want of judgment is a sin 
against which Christ will come to judgment. Ah, 
how do blinded men take that for devotion which 



259 

is only superstition ! and that for a Bethel which 
is no better than a Babel ! To preserve the under- 
standing as a Goshen from the darkness of Egypt, 
is the way to avoid the plagues of Egypt. 

"I send thee to open blind eyes, to turn them 
from ' darkness to light." Spiritual acts require 
spiritual eyes, and the clearer we see them the bet- 
ter we perform them. He who desires to see the 
face of holiness in its native lustre must not set 
his carnal judgment to draw the picture. 

7. "Would you know more than others ? then 
you must have God reveal himself more to you 
than he does to others. 

Man does not first come to God that he might 
be taught, but he is first taught that he may come 
to God. " Unto you it is given to know the mys- 
teries of the kingdom." God gives, and then we 
know. When he opens our eyes, then we can see ; 
when he loosens our tongues, we can speak; 
when he says come forth, we live ; and when he 
Commands us to be of good comfort, we can 
rejoice. 

God is first in all the works of creation and 
providence. He is all in nature, all in grace, 
and all in glory. " Without me ye can do 
nothing." 

Thus if you would deny yourselves — pray — 
resolve— love — believe, or know more than others, 
it can only be by the gracious revelation of God to 
your mental powers. All the difference that exists 
between man and man is only from the Lord of 
hosts, who is wonderful in counsel. You may 



260 

cast the net on any side of the ship of eminence 
or religions excellence, but he only can inclose 
it with blessings. 

Thus may you be taught to acknowledge who 
he is, rest on what he does, and finally be with 
him where he is; and though your journey be 
attended with bitterness, yet he shall soon crown 
you with eternal blessedness. 



THE END. 



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NOTES ON THE TWENTY-FIVE ARTICLES OF RE- 
LIGION, as received and taught by Methodists in thB 
United States, 

In which the doctrines are carefully considered and 
Supported by the testimony of the Holy Scriptures. By 
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From Rev. John Miller. 
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ligious multum in parvo — combining sound theology with 
S practical religion. It should be found in every Methodist 
amily." 



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"From our intimate acquaintance with the gifted and 

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METHODISM EXPLAINED AND DEFENDED. 

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From the Springfield Republic. 
" We have read this new work of Rev. J. S. Inskip with 
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ment of its subject/ It has evidently been written with 
great prudence and care in reference to the facts and evi- 
dences on which the arguments are predicated. This 
book will doubtless be of general service to the Church, 
and an instrument of great good." 



MAR 8 1907 



